Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-three ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $44.26.

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A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Phillip Securities upgraded Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to an "accumulate" rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Bank of America

Bank of America Trading Up 1.1 %

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Shares of BAC stock opened at $46.55 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $42.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.59. The company has a market capitalization of $357.13 billion, a PE ratio of 16.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America has a 12-month low of $29.32 and a 12-month high of $47.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) 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 firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during 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%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Bank of America will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

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The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.82%.

Insider Activity

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 10,975,008 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.87, for a total transaction of $437,573,568.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 910,731,659 shares in the company, valued at $36,310,871,244.33. This trade represents a 1.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 96,094,698 shares of company stock worth $3,876,350,805. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter worth $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in Bank of America by 525.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 852 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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