Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock Price Up 0.3%

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s stock price shot up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $39.49 and last traded at $39.35. 10,728,745 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 39,232,418 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.25.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on BAC shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler Companies raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. 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 note on Tuesday, September 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.22.

Bank of America Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $310.39 billion, a PE ratio of 13.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $39.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.97.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The company had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.99%.

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

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, 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 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 134,722,127 shares of company stock valued at $5,539,949,341. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased 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. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.