Oppenheimer Boosts Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Price Target to $56.00

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its target price increased by equities research analysts at Oppenheimer from $50.00 to $56.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price target indicates a potential upside of 34.07% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also commented on BAC. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Cfra reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.97.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of BAC stock traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $41.77. The company had a trading volume of 6,538,417 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,227,867. Bank of America has a twelve month low of $27.34 and a twelve month high of $44.44. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $320.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total value of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,606,297,408.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total value of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,606,297,408.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,067,817 shares of company stock valued at $4,548,518,070 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 205,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,136,000 after purchasing an additional 4,186 shares in the last quarter. Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the 3rd quarter valued at $242,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Bank of America by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 4,651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $185,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 117.0% during the 3rd quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 35,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,399,000 after purchasing an additional 19,013 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its holdings in Bank of America by 63.7% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 31,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,265,000 after purchasing an additional 12,402 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Bank of America

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.