Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 2,042,635 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 0.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 639,148,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,042,635 shares during the period. Bank of America accounts for 0.5% of Vanguard Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 8.63% of Bank of America worth $30,244,507,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 71,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,365,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in Bank of America by 96.5% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,882,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $325,690,000 after acquiring an additional 3,379,335 shares during the period. Intrust Bank NA grew its holdings in Bank of America by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 181,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,612,000 after acquiring an additional 4,298 shares in the last quarter. Slagle Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Slagle Financial LLC now owns 72,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,425,000 after purchasing an additional 2,588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cannon Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $217,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BAC shares. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Bank of America from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Erste Group Bank upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Bank of America from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised shares of Bank of America to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Twenty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.86.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC stock opened at $51.49 on Tuesday. Bank of America Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $33.06 and a fifty-two week high of $54.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $376.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.03, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.34. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.19.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $5.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 30.52%.

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.