Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Sets New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $57.50 to $62.50. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Bank of America traded as high as $59.92 and last traded at $59.5160, with a volume of 3729237 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $58.73.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on BAC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Bank of America from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Bank of America from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Evercore cut their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $70.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 15th. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.90.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In related news, insider Geoffrey S. Greener sold 126,756 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.01, for a total value of $6,719,335.56. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,373,397 shares in the company, valued at $72,803,774.97. This trade represents a 8.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Bank of America News

Here are the key news stories impacting Bank of America this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo lifted its price target on Bank of America (BAC) to $67 and reiterated an Overweight rating, signaling confidence in the bank’s earnings and valuation. Wells Fargo raises Bank of America price target to $67
• Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America’s research team remained active in the market commentary cycle, including a cautious call that the S&P 500 may decline amid high AI spending and elevated tech valuations. BofA forecasts 8.5% decline in S&P 500
• Neutral Sentiment: BofA also reiterated a year-end S&P 500 target of 7,100, reinforcing its view that market speculation may be due for a snapback, though this is more of a macro call than a direct driver for BAC shares. BofA warns of stock market snapback

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Legacy Bridge LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 182.3% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Bridge LLC now owns 511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. CrossGen Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $421.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.80.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.11. Bank of America had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 11.49%. The company had revenue of $30.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.72%.

Bank of America Company Profile

Bank of America Corporation is a multinational financial services company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It provides a broad array of banking, investment, asset management and related financial and risk management products and services to individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses, large corporations, governments and institutional investors. The firm operates through consumer banking, global wealth and investment management, global banking and markets businesses, offering capabilities across lending, deposits, payments, advisory and capital markets.

Its consumer-facing offerings include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, home equity lending, auto loans, credit cards and small business banking, supported by a nationwide branch network and digital channels.