Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Upgraded to Hold by StockNews.com

by · The Markets Daily

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on BAC. Piper Sandler Companies raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.62.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Bank of America

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE:BAC traded up $0.66 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $42.80. The stock had a trading volume of 42,433,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,941,891. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Bank of America has a one year low of $24.96 and a one year high of $44.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $334.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Bank of America will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $530,145,635.91. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 998,961,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,085,191,337.27. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $530,145,635.91. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 998,961,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,085,191,337.27. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,577.37. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,230,389 shares of company stock valued at $6,023,064,684 over the last quarter. 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 added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Good Life Advisors LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 6.3% during the third quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 32,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,298,000 after purchasing an additional 1,948 shares during the period. One Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 6.3% in the third quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $393,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares during the period. Nottingham Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Bank of America in the third quarter worth approximately $1,003,000. Consolidated Capital Management LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 1.9% in the third quarter. Consolidated Capital Management LLC now owns 119,657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,748,000 after acquiring an additional 2,206 shares during the period. Finally, Mezzasalma Advisors LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 4.9% in the third quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC now owns 8,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $354,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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