Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock Price Up 0.2% – Here’s What Happened

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s share price shot up 0.2% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $41.97 and last traded at $41.83. 8,863,509 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 38,657,578 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.76.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on BAC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.69.

Bank of America Trading Up 1.4 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $39.97 and a 200-day moving average of $39.47. The company has a market capitalization of $331.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.99%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 7,526,661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.70, for a total transaction of $313,861,763.70. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 966,911,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,320,201,877.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 7,526,661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.70, for a total value of $313,861,763.70. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 966,911,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,320,201,877.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 138,284,099 shares of company stock worth $5,593,609,660 in the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter worth $27,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 402.2% in the first 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 raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

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.