Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its price target increased by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $52.00 to $56.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 19.79% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays upped their target price on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.26.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.9 %

BAC opened at $46.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $358.71 billion, a PE ratio of 17.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.32. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $41.49 and its 200-day moving average is $40.33. Bank of America has a one year low of $29.22 and a one year high of $46.84.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Bank of America will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,754,272 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.79, for a total value of $268,752,482.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 921,706,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,674,708,279.93. This represents a 0.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 107,883,988 shares of company stock worth $4,344,741,752. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 140,255,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,546,871,000 after buying an additional 1,700,141 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 57,539,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,288,347,000 after purchasing an additional 895,884 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 4.0% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,215,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,794,164,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,003 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,354,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,530,241,000 after purchasing an additional 165,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 22,341,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $886,499,000 after purchasing an additional 601,211 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.