Brokerages Set Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Target Price at $44.26

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation, fourteen have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $44.26.

Several analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC opened at $47.77 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $42.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.92. Bank of America has a 1 year low of $29.32 and a 1 year high of $47.98. The company has a market capitalization of $366.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The firm’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Bank of America will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,031,014 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.28, for a total value of $202,649,243.92. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 863,977,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,801,017,687.72. This trade represents a 0.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 70,007,916 shares of company stock valued at $2,829,836,123 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 525.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 852 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.