Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Shares Up 1.3% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) shot up 1.3% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $37.33 and last traded at $36.04. 20,928,575 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 45% from the average session volume of 38,144,295 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.58.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BAC. Citigroup reduced their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Barclays increased their target price on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.31.

Bank of America Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $263.92 billion, a PE ratio of 10.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $43.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.90.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.30%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 142,289,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,243,000,000 after buying an additional 2,033,229 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Bank of America by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 122,437,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,381,126,000 after purchasing an additional 11,691,451 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth about $5,226,989,000. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Bank of America by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,876,853,000 after purchasing an additional 17,031,143 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,985,785,000 after buying an additional 9,980,859 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.