Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler upgraded Bank of America from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and increased their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Bank of America from $49.00 to $47.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Bank of America from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $42.27.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $40.11 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $313.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America has a 12 month low of $24.96 and a 12 month high of $44.44. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The business had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company 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 predict that Bank of America will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were given a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.59%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

Bank of America declared 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 purchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 147,650,481 shares of company stock worth $6,050,547,676. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 402.2% in the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 839.0% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.