Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading 1.3% Higher Following Earnings Beat

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) shares traded up 1.3% on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $43.30 and last traded at $42.47. 18,181,063 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 38,706,770 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.91.

The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The company’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.99%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase 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 purchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. Piper Sandler raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,577.37. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 148,230,389 shares of company stock worth $6,023,064,684. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Harbor Island Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.5% in the third quarter. Harbor Island Capital LLC now owns 170,106 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,750,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares during the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 5.0% during the third quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 9,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 467 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in Bank of America by 6.6% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 1,012,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,175,000 after purchasing an additional 63,038 shares during the period. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 2.0% during the third quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 74,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,002,000 after purchasing an additional 1,430 shares during the period. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 9.8% during the third quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 43,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,738,000 after purchasing an additional 3,913 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $333.23 billion, a PE ratio of 14.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.35.

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.