Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Shares Down 0.5% – What’s Next?

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s share price was down 0.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $45.96 and last traded at $46.47. Approximately 5,110,635 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 38,544,160 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.72.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BAC shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.26.

Bank of America Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.55. The company has a market capitalization of $353.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.82%.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,754,272 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.79, for a total transaction of $268,752,482.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 921,706,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,674,708,279.93. This trade represents a 0.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 102,848,970 shares of company stock worth $4,145,103,288 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fortem Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 2.3% during the third quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 16,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $666,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,011,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 10.8% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 113,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,563,000 after purchasing an additional 11,075 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 140,255,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,546,871,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700,141 shares during the period. Finally, MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 7.6% in the third quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $782,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

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.