Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Price Target Increased to $40.50 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its price target boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $39.50 to $40.50 in a research note published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on BAC. Erste Group Bank raised Bank of America from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Odeon Capital Group downgraded shares of Bank of America from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $33.90 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $40.00 target price (up previously from $39.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $38.70.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC opened at $37.25 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $36.46 and its 200 day moving average is $33.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $291.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.89, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.37. Bank of America has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-month high of $38.49.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bank of America will post 3.2 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.22%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 98.1% during the 3rd quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 1,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 504 shares during the period. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Company Profile

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.