Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Upgraded to Buy at Citigroup

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) was upgraded by stock analysts at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage currently has a $54.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $46.00. Citigroup’s target price indicates a potential upside of 20.62% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Cfra restated a “sell” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.69.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $44.77 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $343.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.28, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Bank of America has a 1-year low of $27.34 and a 1-year high of $45.55.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Bank of America will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 2,305,415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.27, for a total transaction of $90,533,647.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 812,041,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,888,881,917.97. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 113,067,817 shares of company stock worth $4,548,518,070 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 402.2% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Company Profile

Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services for individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, institutional investors, large corporations, and governments worldwide. It operates in four segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), Global Banking, and Global Markets.