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

Key Points

• Oppenheimer raised Bank of America's target price from $56 to $57, indicating potential stock upside of 9.02% from its previous close.
• Bank of America reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, exceeding expectations of $0.93, and had a revenue of $28.09 billion, up 10.8% year-over-year.
• The company has approved a $40 billion share buyback program to repurchase up to 11.1% of its outstanding shares, reflecting confidence in its stock valuation.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its target price increased by Oppenheimer from $56.00 to $57.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Oppenheimer's price target indicates a potential upside of 9.02% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on BAC. Baird R W downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Bank of America from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Seaport Global Securities boosted their target price on Bank of America from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $55.77.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC stock opened at $52.28 on Thursday. The company's 50-day moving average is $49.89 and its 200 day moving average is $45.67. Bank of America has a one year low of $33.06 and a one year high of $52.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $387.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.13. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The company had revenue of $28.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $27.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.81 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total value of $6,762,177.87. Following the sale, the insider owned 223,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $6,982,863,000 after buying an additional 403,652 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter valued at $5,091,641,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.3% during 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 buying an additional 803,570 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 2,557,943 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Bank of America by 45.1% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,007,718,000 after purchasing an additional 14,960,086 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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