Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $47.47 and last traded at $47.47, with a volume of 52016 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $47.00.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on BAC. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley raised 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 report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.26.

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 cap of $363.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.09, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.32. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $42.24 and its 200-day moving average is $40.69.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during 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%. The firm’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.82%.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This represents a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were 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 owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. The trade was a 1.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 85,119,690 shares of company stock valued at $3,438,777,236 over the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 3.6% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 29,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,129,000 after acquiring an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the first quarter worth about $237,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Bank of America by 3.0% during the first quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $726,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares during the period. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 13.1% during the first quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 161,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,129,000 after buying an additional 18,777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sweeney & Michel LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,368,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

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.