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

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. 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 changing hands.

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

Bank of America Announces Dividend

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

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler Companies raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.62.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 4,002,225 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 4,002,225 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was 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. Insiders sold a total of 148,230,389 shares of company stock valued at $6,023,064,684 in the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 74,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,002,000 after buying an additional 1,430 shares in the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 43,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,738,000 after purchasing an additional 3,913 shares in the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 12,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.3% during the third quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 21,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $848,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Buffington Mohr McNeal increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.4% in the third quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 195,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,747,000 after purchasing an additional 4,633 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.6 %

The business has a 50-day moving average of $39.72 and a 200 day moving average of $39.35. The company has a market capitalization of $334.71 billion, a PE ratio of 14.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. 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 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.