The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Price Target to $57.00

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its price target decreased by investment analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $67.00 to $57.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 18.88% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on BAC. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Bank of America from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Bank of America from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Bank of America from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.87.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:BAC traded up $0.79 during trading on Monday, hitting $47.95. 23,014,131 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 42,878,133. Bank of America has a fifty-two week low of $33.06 and a fifty-two week high of $57.55. The stock has a market cap of $344.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $51.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.36.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 14th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. Bank of America had a return on equity of 11.07% and a net margin of 16.23%.The company had revenue of $4.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bank of America will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 83,832 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $4,191,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 307,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,362,000. This represents a 21.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Thomas M. Scrivener sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.82, for a total transaction of $2,491,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 227,973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,357,614.86. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 227,832 shares of company stock worth $11,094,960. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Steph & Co. grew its position in Bank of America by 224.3% in the third quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Bridge LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 182.3% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Bridge LLC now owns 511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America during the third quarter worth about $30,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Company Profile

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.