Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading Up 2.4% – Here’s What Happened

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) was up 2.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $58.48 and last traded at $58.3640. 34,010,510 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 13% from the average daily volume of 39,284,977 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.98.

Key Headlines Impacting Bank of America

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America’s own analysts reiterated a bullish view on Meta Platforms, highlighting a potential $150 billion AI infrastructure revenue opportunity and reinforcing BAC’s reputation for being well positioned on major AI/cloud themes. BofA Analysts Back META Stock as Secret Cloud Shift Creates a ‘Strategically Valuable Asset’
• Positive Sentiment: Several recent notes suggest BAC remains attractively valued versus peers, with Morgan Stanley raising its price target and other commentary framing the shares as reasonable on earnings and still potentially undervalued. Bank of America (BAC) Stock Looks Reasonable On Earnings But Stretched Versus Fair Value
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary ahead of Q2 bank earnings points to a constructive setup for major lenders, including Bank of America, with improving revisions trends and expectations for the sector to report on July 14. Q2 Earnings Season Nears Kickoff: Bank Earnings in Focus
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary also highlighted BAC as a “best bank stock to watch,” while comparisons with Wells Fargo and notes on the bank’s World Cup marketing strategy are mostly informational rather than direct catalysts. Best Bank Stocks To Watch Today – July 2nd
• Negative Sentiment: Senate Democrats asked the Fed’s inspector general to investigate whether Fed Vice Chair Michelle Bowman violated rules by speaking at a private Bank of America client dinner, creating a small but notable governance/regulatory overhang for BAC. US Senator Warren calls for Fed watchdog review of Bowman’s BofA dinner, WSJ reports
• Negative Sentiment: A Reuters-linked update also flagged a $7.5 million SEC settlement tied to BAC, which is unlikely to be material financially but may add to headline risk. Bank Of America (BAC) Faces $7.5 Million SEC Settlement As World Cup Push Expands

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Oppenheimer downgraded Bank of America from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore decreased their price objective on Bank of America from $70.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.60.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.1%

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 market cap of $416.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.78.

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

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Geoffrey S. Greener sold 126,756 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.01, for a total transaction of $6,719,335.56. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,373,397 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 651,076,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,809,225,000 after purchasing an additional 23,351,183 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake 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 valued at $7,448,816,000 after purchasing an additional 14,275,810 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth about $4,774,210,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Bank of America by 5.4% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 2,929,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 53,783,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,958,110,000 after buying an additional 1,105,833 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.