Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $50.64 and last traded at $50.51, with a volume of 32938437 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $50.38.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BAC shares. Phillip Securities cut Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, HSBC cut Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold 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 $50.13.

Bank of America Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $375.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.95.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.41%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total transaction of $6,762,177.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 121.0% in the 1st quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 62,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,589,000 after acquiring an additional 33,963 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 696,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,061,000 after acquiring an additional 50,296 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $998,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 37.2% in the 1st quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 65,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,714,000 after acquiring an additional 17,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 170.5% in the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 238,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,951,000 after acquiring an additional 150,299 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.