Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s share price was down 1.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $39.62 and last traded at $39.70. Approximately 8,815,131 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 38,835,691 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.31.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research analysts have issued reports on BAC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $39.50 to $40.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Piper Sandler Companies raised shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.07.
Bank of America Trading Down 2.0 %
The firm has a market capitalization of $308.90 billion, a PE ratio of 13.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $40.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.41.
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. Bank of America’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Bank of America Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 33.22%.
Bank of America announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.
Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America
In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 49,545,245 shares of company stock valued at $2,119,252,649 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter worth $716,000. Verus Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 77.2% in the second quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 28,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,140,000 after acquiring an additional 12,489 shares in the last quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 25.8% in the second quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 83,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,311,000 after acquiring an additional 17,053 shares in the last quarter. Rice Partnership LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 3.0% in the second quarter. Rice Partnership LLC now owns 14,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 21.4% in the second quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $674,000 after acquiring an additional 2,986 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
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.