Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading Up 0.1% Following Analyst Upgrade

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) was up 0.1% on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $39.50 to $40.50. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Bank of America traded as high as $37.41 and last traded at $37.03. Approximately 6,173,548 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 40,707,594 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.01.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on BAC. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Bank of America from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Barclays upped their target price on Bank of America from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Erste Group Bank raised Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Bank of America from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $40.00 target price (up from $39.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $38.70.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth $3,734,407,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 104,030,844 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,502,720,000 after purchasing an additional 9,879,524 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 2.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,648,727 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,852,222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,397,469 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 41,833,075 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,408,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 97.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,290,694 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,130,538,000 after purchasing an additional 20,362,295 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $291.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.79, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $36.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.06. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. The company had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $25.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Bank of America's payout ratio is 33.22%.

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.