Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Shares Gap Up After Strong Earnings

Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $41.91, but opened at $43.23. Bank of America shares last traded at $42.81, with a volume of 11,394,123 shares changing hands.

The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.99%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler Companies raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 4,002,225 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.14, for a total transaction of $160,649,311.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 776,614,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,173,306,471.54. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This trade 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 the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 4,002,225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.14, for a total value of $160,649,311.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 776,614,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,173,306,471.54. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,230,389 shares of company stock worth $6,023,064,684 in the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 402.2% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 839.0% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.6 %

The stock has a market cap of $334.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $39.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.35.

Bank of America Company Profile

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.