Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Price Target Raised to $60.00

Key Points

• The price target for Bank of America has been raised by Wells Fargo from $56.00 to $60.00, suggesting an 18.67% potential upside.
• Bank of America has initiated a $40 billion share repurchase program, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.
• Institutional investors own 70.71% of Bank of America's stock, with multiple firms increasing their stakes during the second quarter.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its price objective hoisted by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $56.00 to $60.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price would suggest a potential upside of 18.67% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on BAC. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bank of America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. HSBC lowered shares of Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.61.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $50.56 on Tuesday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $48.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.31. The stock has a market cap of $374.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.34. Bank of America has a fifty-two week low of $33.06 and a fifty-two week high of $51.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Bank of America will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total transaction of $6,762,177.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 0.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 148,176,755 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,982,863,000 after purchasing an additional 403,652 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter worth $5,091,641,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 1.3% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 60,417,407 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,521,218,000 after acquiring an additional 803,570 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 5.2% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 51,405,673 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,432,516,000 after buying an additional 2,557,943 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 45.1% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,007,718,000 after buying an additional 14,960,086 shares during the last quarter. 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.

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