Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading 1% Higher

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) shares traded up 1% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $39.65 and last traded at $39.58. 5,127,094 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 39,110,156 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.17.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Bank of America from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.70.

Bank of America Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $310.47 billion, a PE ratio of 13.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $37.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.39.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.06. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The company had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.22%.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 402.2% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 1,489.3% during the 1st quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 834 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.