Woodline Partners LP Acquires 158,528 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 39.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 559,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 158,528 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $23,344,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on BAC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Cowen assumed coverage on Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.39.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE BAC opened at $50.28 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $48.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.15. Bank of America Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.06 and a 1 year high of $50.92. The company has a market cap of $372.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.70, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.34.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%.The firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 32.75%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total transaction of $6,762,177.87. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% 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.