Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Hits New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $57.50 to $62.50. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Bank of America traded as high as $59.92 and last traded at $59.5160, with a volume of 3729237 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $58.73.

BAC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Evercore lowered their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $70.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 15th. Autonomous Res cut their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $62.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bank of America news, insider Geoffrey S. Greener sold 126,756 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.01, for a total value of $6,719,335.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,373,397 shares in the company, valued at $72,803,774.97. This trade represents a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Bank of America

Here are the key news stories impacting Bank of America this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo lifted its price target on Bank of America (BAC) to $67 and reiterated an Overweight rating, signaling confidence in the bank’s earnings and valuation. Wells Fargo raises Bank of America price target to $67
• Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America’s research team remained active in the market commentary cycle, including a cautious call that the S&P 500 may decline amid high AI spending and elevated tech valuations. BofA forecasts 8.5% decline in S&P 500
• Neutral Sentiment: BofA also reiterated a year-end S&P 500 target of 7,100, reinforcing its view that market speculation may be due for a snapback, though this is more of a macro call than a direct driver for BAC shares. BofA warns of stock market snapback

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Legacy Bridge LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 182.3% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Bridge LLC now owns 511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Wiser Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. CrossGen Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $53.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.80. The company has a market capitalization of $421.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.71, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.17.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.11. Bank of America had a return on equity of 11.49% and a net margin of 16.78%.The business had revenue of $30.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.72%.

About Bank of America

Bank of America Corporation is a multinational financial services company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It provides a broad array of banking, investment, asset management and related financial and risk management products and services to individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses, large corporations, governments and institutional investors. The firm operates through consumer banking, global wealth and investment management, global banking and markets businesses, offering capabilities across lending, deposits, payments, advisory and capital markets.

Its consumer-facing offerings include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, home equity lending, auto loans, credit cards and small business banking, supported by a nationwide branch network and digital channels.