Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Shares Up 0.7% on Analyst Upgrade

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) shares were up 0.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $46.00 to $50.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Bank of America traded as high as $37.72 and last traded at $37.58. Approximately 12,348,556 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 39,122,210 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.33.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Cfra Research lifted their target price on Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. HSBC raised Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.20.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 142,289,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,243,000,000 after acquiring an additional 2,033,229 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Bank of America by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 122,437,422 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,381,126,000 after purchasing an additional 11,691,451 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,226,989,000. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,876,853,000 after purchasing an additional 17,031,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,985,785,000 after acquiring an additional 9,980,859 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $41.27 and a 200 day moving average of $43.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $284.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.63, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.24.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $27.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.83 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Bank of America's payout ratio is 30.95%.

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.