Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock Price Up 0.4% – Should You Buy?

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s stock price was up 0.4% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $46.45 and last traded at $46.28. Approximately 6,962,085 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 38,594,020 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.08.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BAC shares. Citigroup upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.69.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.1 %

The firm has a market cap of $352.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.69, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.32. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

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

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 37.82%.

Bank of America declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 29,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,129,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 90,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,449,000 after purchasing an additional 5,496 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.1% during the first quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 187,026 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,092,000 after buying an additional 1,998 shares in the last quarter. Leo Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 10.4% in the first quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 11,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $449,000 after buying an additional 1,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 402.2% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.