Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors acquired 196,083 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 28% compared to the typical volume of 153,009 call options.
BAC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to an "accumulate" rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $44.26.
View Our Latest Report on BAC
In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total transaction of $369,952,591.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,606,297,408.10. This represents a 1.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 96,094,698 shares of company stock valued at $3,876,350,805 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $488,000. Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at $645,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 4.3% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,602 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $619,000 after acquiring an additional 645 shares in the last quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 16,777 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $666,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,011,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Shares of NYSE:BAC traded up $0.54 during trading on Friday, hitting $47.00. 37,594,105 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 38,626,727. The stock has a market capitalization of $360.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.08, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.32. The business's fifty day moving average is $42.07 and its 200-day moving average is $40.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Bank of America has a one year low of $29.32 and a one year high of $47.22.
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Bank of America will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.
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.
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