Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Shares Down 0.3% – Here’s Why

by · The Markets Daily

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) traded down 0.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $46.49 and last traded at $46.62. 7,340,371 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 38,581,836 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.75.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.26.

Check Out Our Latest Report on Bank of America

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 stock has a market capitalization of $356.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.32. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.51.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. Bank of America’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.82%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total value of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. This trade represents a 1.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. This represents a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 102,848,970 shares of company stock valued at $4,145,103,288 in the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fortem Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 16,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $666,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 3rd quarter worth $2,011,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 10.8% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 113,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,563,000 after purchasing an additional 11,075 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 140,255,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,546,871,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $782,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Company Profile

(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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