Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on BAC. HSBC downgraded shares of Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.39.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.3%

BAC stock opened at $50.60 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $48.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.28. Bank of America has a 12 month low of $33.06 and a 12 month high of $50.96. The company has a market cap of $374.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. The company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total value of $6,762,177.87. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nova Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Bank of America by 75.2% in the 2nd quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 246.5% in the 2nd quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares during the last quarter. RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. CGC Financial Services LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 585.4% in the 2nd quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.