Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Hits New 52-Week High - What's Next?

Shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $54.69 and last traded at $54.4570, with a volume of 7371426 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.09.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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BAC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Bank of America from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Seaport Global Securities boosted their target price on Bank of America from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. UBS Group increased their price target on Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Bank of America from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bank of America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, October 19th. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.77.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on BAC

Bank of America Trading Up 0.9%

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The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company's 50 day moving average price is $52.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $398.61 billion, a PE ratio of 14.88 and a beta of 1.30.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $5.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $27.05 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 10.76%. Bank of America's revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

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The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BAC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,091,641,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 640.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 46,516,728 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,399,798,000 after acquiring an additional 40,235,201 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 45.1% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,007,718,000 after purchasing an additional 14,960,086 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 144,371,118 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,448,816,000 after purchasing an additional 14,275,810 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Bank of America by 124.8% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 17,619,837 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $833,771,000 after purchasing an additional 9,782,208 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

About Bank of America

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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