Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading Down 4.3% – What’s Next?

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) shares were down 4.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $33.06 and last traded at $33.51. Approximately 35,873,054 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 7% from the average daily volume of 38,414,340 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.03.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays raised their target price on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.31.

Bank of America Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $273.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50-day moving average of $42.47 and a 200-day moving average of $43.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The business’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA grew its holdings in Bank of America by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA now owns 20,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $879,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 1,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 8,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Marino Stram & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 13,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keudell Morrison Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 8,291 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $364,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

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.