Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Rating Increased to Accumulate at Phillip Securities

Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) from a neutral rating to an accumulate rating in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have $44.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on BAC. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.69.

Bank of America Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $41.76 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $326.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.47. Bank of America has a 1 year low of $24.96 and a 1 year high of $44.44.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. Bank of America’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Bank of America will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.99%.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a share buyback 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 usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bank of America news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related 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 value of $402,355.91. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,420,599 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.39, for a total value of $229,779,191.61. Following the sale, the insider now owns 980,061,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,544,809,570.79. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 138,284,099 shares of company stock valued at $5,593,609,660 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. grew its holdings in Bank of America by 1.3% in the third quarter. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. now owns 119,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,755,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490 shares during the period. Sweeney & Michel LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sweeney & Michel LLC now owns 34,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after buying an additional 1,529 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 19,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $793,000 after buying an additional 987 shares during the period. Ledyard National Bank increased its position in Bank of America by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ledyard National Bank now owns 11,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after buying an additional 1,769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrity Financial Corp WA raised its stake in Bank of America by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Integrity Financial Corp WA now owns 14,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

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.