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

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) traded down 0.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $42.39 and last traded at $42.54. 4,432,963 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 38,530,344 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.65.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Cfra reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.69.

Bank of America Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $326.52 billion, a PE ratio of 15.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $40.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued 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 yield of 2.47%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 37.82%.

Bank of America announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total value of $465,811,996.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 835,908,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,088,345,979.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total transaction of $465,811,996.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 835,908,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,088,345,979.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 125,336,839 shares of company stock worth $5,049,968,704. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 39.5% in the 1st quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $161,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in Bank of America by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 175,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,669,000 after purchasing an additional 14,627 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 63,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,420,000 after purchasing an additional 9,191 shares during the last quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $429,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 26.1% in the 1st quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 25,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $964,000 after purchasing an additional 5,264 shares during the last quarter. 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.