Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Daiwa Capital Markets Analyst Says

Key Points

• Daiwa Capital Markets has raised Bank of America's stock price target from $54.00 to $58.00, indicating an expected upside of 16.02%.
• The majority of equity research analysts have a positive outlook on the stock, with 21 analysts rating it as a Buy and only 5 as a Hold.
• Bank of America has announced a $40 billion stock buyback program, reflecting the board's belief that the shares are currently undervalued.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its price objective upped by investment analysts at Daiwa Capital Markets from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Daiwa Capital Markets' target price suggests a potential upside of 16.02% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on BAC. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $54.11.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $49.99 on Wednesday. Bank of America has a 12-month low of $33.06 and a 12-month high of $52.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $370.30 billion, a PE ratio of 14.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50-day moving average of $49.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.39.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.79 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Bank of America will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were 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 owned 223,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 148,176,755 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,982,863,000 after purchasing an additional 403,652 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,091,641,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Bank of America by 1.3% during the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 803,570 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 51,405,673 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,432,516,000 after acquiring an additional 2,557,943 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 45.1% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,007,718,000 after acquiring an additional 14,960,086 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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