Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Shares Gap Up Following Earnings Beat

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $41.91, but opened at $43.23. Bank of America shares last traded at $42.81, with a volume of 11,394,123 shares.

The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.99%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BAC shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Bank of America from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays raised their price target on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.62.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 4,002,225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.14, for a total value of $160,649,311.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 776,614,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,173,306,471.54. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 4,002,225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.14, for a total value of $160,649,311.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 776,614,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,173,306,471.54. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 148,230,389 shares of company stock valued at $6,023,064,684. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 402.2% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 839.0% during 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 last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Trading Up 1.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.35. The firm has a market cap of $334.71 billion, a PE ratio of 14.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33.

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.