The Goldman Sachs Group Lowers Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Price Target to $58.00

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its target price dropped by investment analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $60.00 to $58.00 in a research note issued on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 9.75% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on BAC. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target (up from $57.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Bank of America from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Ameriprise Financial raised Bank of America to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.27.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $52.85 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $391.42 billion, a PE ratio of 14.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. Bank of America has a 12 month low of $33.06 and a 12 month high of $53.28. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $50.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.68.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.13. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 15.70%.The company had revenue of $28.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.81 EPS. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter worth $5,091,641,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 45.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 14,960,086 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Bank of America by 124.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 9,782,208 shares in the last quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter valued at about $202,439,000. Finally, Unisphere Establishment increased its stake in Bank of America by 1,642.5% during the 1st quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 4,195,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $175,057,000 after purchasing an additional 3,954,250 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.