Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

by · The Cerbat Gem

StockNews.com lowered shares of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Bank of America from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies upgraded shares of Bank of America from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and upped their price target for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $42.27.

Read Our Latest Analysis on BAC

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC opened at $40.11 on Wednesday. Bank of America has a fifty-two week low of $24.96 and a fifty-two week high of $44.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $39.36 and a 200 day moving average of $39.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $313.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.88, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 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 .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Bank of America will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase 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 repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allied Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 0.9% during the third quarter. Allied Investment Advisors LLC now owns 295,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,732,000 after buying an additional 2,544 shares during the period. Thrive Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $509,000 after acquiring an additional 1,230 shares during the last quarter. MRA Advisory Group boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. MRA Advisory Group now owns 6,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 119,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,747,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares during the period. Finally, Abacus Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $217,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

About Bank of America

(Get Free Report)

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.

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