Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading Up 0.1%

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) shares were up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $40.20 and last traded at $39.79. Approximately 7,602,042 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 39,016,020 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.77.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BAC shares. Piper Sandler upgraded Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.07.

Bank of America Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $312.42 billion, a PE ratio of 13.82, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a 50-day moving average of $40.20 and a 200-day moving average of $38.19.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The business had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 35.99%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total transaction of $530,145,635.91. Following the sale, the insider now owns 998,961,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,085,191,337.27. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $530,145,635.91. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 998,961,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,085,191,337.27. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 84,497,793 shares of company stock valued at $3,513,542,556. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,502,000. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. bought a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $515,000. Brio Consultants LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $227,000. PGGM Investments grew its position in Bank of America by 142.7% during the 4th quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 30,039 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,011,000 after acquiring an additional 17,660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Bank of America by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,770 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by 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.