Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Given New $70.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its price target boosted by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $67.00 to $70.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential upside of 31.83% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 17th. Phillip Securities lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Twenty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.73.

Bank of America Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE BAC traded up $0.65 during trading on Thursday, hitting $53.10. The stock had a trading volume of 16,666,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 40,294,262. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $387.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.34. Bank of America has a one year low of $33.06 and a one year high of $53.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.35.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.13. Bank of America had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The firm had revenue of $28.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 108,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,785,000 after purchasing an additional 25,143 shares during the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $701,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the last quarter. Rogco LP raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 15.4% during the 1st quarter. Rogco LP now owns 22,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $944,000 after purchasing an additional 3,012 shares during the last quarter. tru Independence LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. tru Independence LLC now owns 182,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,626,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebrook Private Inc. raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 19,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $817,000 after purchasing an additional 1,081 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently 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.