Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock Price Up 0.1%

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s stock price rose 0.1% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $38.91 and last traded at $38.79. Approximately 6,364,079 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 38,987,293 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.75.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BAC. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays boosted their price target on Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price (up previously from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased 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 research report on Thursday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.07.

Bank of America Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $304.92 billion, a PE ratio of 13.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.97.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.99%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,035,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.65, for a total value of $199,638,463.70. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 928,460,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,813,476,231.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,768,513 shares of company stock valued at $2,807,216,504 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BAC. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth $3,502,000. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. purchased a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth about $515,000. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc raised its holdings in Bank of America by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 8,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the period. Wynn Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,388,000. Finally, Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $324,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Company Profile

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.