Oppenheimer Raises Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Price Target to $50.00

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its price target increased by Oppenheimer from $49.00 to $50.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler raised Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, 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 note on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.62.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC stock opened at $42.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $334.71 billion, a PE ratio of 14.81, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.35. 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 has a one year low of $24.96 and a one year high of $44.44.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 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 company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Bank of America will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 35.99%.

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

Insider Activity

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $530,145,635.91. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 998,961,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,085,191,337.27. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $530,145,635.91. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 998,961,079 shares in the company, valued at $43,085,191,337.27. The trade was 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, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BAC. American National Bank & Trust Co. VA bought a new stake in Bank of America in the first quarter worth about $1,322,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 27.1% during the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 98,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,734,000 after purchasing an additional 20,916 shares during the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 19.4% during the 1st quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 8,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457 shares during the last quarter. Councilmark Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 1st quarter worth approximately $771,000. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 37.7% during the second quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 54,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,163,000 after purchasing an additional 14,901 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.