Bank of America Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:BAC)

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors purchased 580,384 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 286% compared to the average daily volume of 150,509 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BAC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target (up previously from $57.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Bank of America from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Daiwa Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Twenty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.77.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC remained flat at $54.09 during trading on Thursday. The stock had a trading volume of 37,929,641 shares, compared to its average volume of 40,086,023. The stock has a market capitalization of $394.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74 and a beta of 1.30. Bank of America has a 52-week low of $33.06 and a 52-week high of $54.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.98.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $5.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.05 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.52%.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,091,641,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 640.5% in the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 46,516,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,399,798,000 after acquiring an additional 40,235,201 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Bank of America by 45.1% during the 1st 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 during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Bank of America by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 144,371,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,448,816,000 after purchasing an additional 14,275,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 124.8% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 17,619,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $833,771,000 after purchasing an additional 9,782,208 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.