Morgan Stanley Boosts Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Price Target to $49.00

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its price target boosted by Morgan Stanley from $46.00 to $49.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

BAC has been the subject of several other reports. Cfra reaffirmed a sell rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays increased their price target on Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group reiterated a neutral rating and set a $40.00 price target (up from $39.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, April 4th. 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. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Bank of America from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $42.07.

Bank of America Stock Down 4.9 %

NYSE BAC opened at $37.57 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $40.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.46. 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 fifty-two week low of $24.96 and a fifty-two week high of $44.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $291.53 billion, a PE ratio of 13.00, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.35.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. Bank of America’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Bank of America will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 56,538,765 shares of company stock valued at $2,403,399,367 in the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BAC. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 402.2% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the period. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its stake in 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 valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

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.