Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Shares Up 1.4% on Analyst Upgrade

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) shares shot up 1.4% on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $56.00 to $60.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Bank of America traded as high as $51.63 and last traded at $51.36. 38,101,061 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 8% from the average session volume of 41,575,973 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.66.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on BAC. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Baird R W cut Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.61.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total value of $6,762,177.87. Following the transaction, the insider owned 223,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BAC. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,091,641,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 45.1% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,007,718,000 after buying an additional 14,960,086 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 124.8% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 17,619,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $833,771,000 after buying an additional 9,782,208 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $217,979,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 4,414.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,654,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $194,212,000 after buying an additional 4,550,930 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $380.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $48.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. The company 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.75%.

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.