Brokerages Set Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Price Target at $44.26

Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-three brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation, fourteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $44.26.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BAC shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup raised Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.1 %

BAC opened at $46.55 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $357.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.93, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.32. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $42.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.59. Bank of America has a 52 week low of $29.32 and a 52 week high of $47.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America's payout ratio is 37.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 10,975,008 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.87, for a total value of $437,573,568.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 910,731,659 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $36,310,871,244.33. This trade represents a 1.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 96,094,698 shares of company stock worth $3,876,350,805. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 839.0% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in Bank of America in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 525.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 852 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.