Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Stock Price Down 3% – Time to Sell?

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) was down 3% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $56.07 and last traded at $56.2170. Approximately 43,268,518 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 16% from the average session volume of 37,245,500 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.96.

Key Headlines Impacting Bank of America

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America is increasing its investments in artificial-intelligence ventures and expanding AI across its workforce. Potential productivity gains, lower servicing costs and new infrastructure-related revenue could support long-term efficiency and growth. Bank of America Bankrolls AI Ventures After Initial Skepticism
• Positive Sentiment: The bank declared an $18.12 dividend on its Series L preferred shares, underscoring continued capital-return activity, although the announcement does not directly change the common-stock dividend. Bank of America Preferred Shares Series L Dividend

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Evercore set a $63.00 price target on shares of Bank of America and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Bank of America from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Argus set a $70.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.08.

Bank of America Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $393.11 billion, a PE ratio of 12.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.08. Bank of America had a net margin of 17.56% and a return on equity of 12.20%. The company had revenue of $31.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.36%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,774,210,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Bank of America by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 57,619,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,169,062,000 after purchasing an additional 2,929,779 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 53,783,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,958,110,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,833 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in Bank of America by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 47,172,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,594,488,000 after purchasing an additional 2,611,776 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 45,411,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,497,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487,809 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Company Profile

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) is a diversified financial services company serving individual consumers, businesses, institutional investors and governments. Its operations include consumer banking, credit and debit cards, mortgages, small-business banking, commercial banking, investment banking, securities trading and investment management.

The company provides consumer and wealth-management services through Bank of America and Merrill, including deposit accounts, lending, brokerage, retirement planning, financial advice and private banking.