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

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its price target hoisted by research analysts at Oppenheimer from $49.00 to $50.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Oppenheimer’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 18.65% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.37.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $42.14 on Wednesday. Bank of America has a 52-week low of $24.96 and a 52-week high of $44.44. The company has a market capitalization of $329.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its 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. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. Bank of America’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 4,002,225 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.14, for a total transaction of $160,649,311.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 776,614,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,173,306,471.54. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 4,002,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.14, for a total transaction of $160,649,311.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 776,614,511 shares in the company, valued at $31,173,306,471.54. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,230,389 shares of company stock valued at $6,023,064,684. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American National Bank & Trust Co. VA bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the first quarter worth about $1,322,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in Bank of America by 27.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. grew its position in Bank of America by 19.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Councilmark Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the 1st quarter worth about $771,000. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC grew its position in Bank of America by 37.7% in the 2nd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 54,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,163,000 after purchasing an additional 14,901 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.