Daiwa Capital Markets Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its price target raised by investment analysts at Daiwa Capital Markets from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Daiwa Capital Markets’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 16.68% from the company’s current price.

BAC has been the topic of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Bank of America from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Baird R W lowered Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Bank of America from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. TD Cowen increased their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.11.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $49.71 on Wednesday. Bank of America has a fifty-two week low of $33.06 and a fifty-two week high of $52.88. The firm has a market cap of $368.20 billion, a PE ratio of 14.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s fifty day moving average is $49.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. The business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Bank of America will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling 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 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. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Common Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 10.5% in the second quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 259,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,288,000 after acquiring an additional 24,740 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 121.0% in the first quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 62,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,589,000 after acquiring an additional 33,963 shares during the last quarter. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 7.3% in the second quarter. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC now owns 6,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Bank of America in the first quarter worth about $998,000. Finally, Alpha Cubed Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 37.2% in the first quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 65,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,714,000 after acquiring an additional 17,619 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently 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.