First Trust Advisors LP Purchases 4,484,503 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 82.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,952,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,484,503 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $485,188,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Bank of America by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 651,076,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,809,225,000 after acquiring an additional 23,351,183 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,774,210,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 57,619,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,169,062,000 after acquiring an additional 2,929,779 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 53,783,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,958,110,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,833 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 47,172,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,594,488,000 after purchasing an additional 2,611,776 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other news, insider Geoffrey S. Greener sold 126,756 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.01, for a total value of $6,719,335.56. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,373,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $72,803,774.97. This represents a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Key Bank of America News

Here are the key news stories impacting Bank of America this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America’s new BofA Rewards program crossed 3 million enrollments in just seven weeks, with most sign-ups happening digitally. That rapid adoption suggests the bank is successfully deepening customer relationships and could support future deposit growth and cross-selling. 3 Million+ Clients Enroll in New BofA Rewards™ Program in First Seven Weeks
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America also enhanced its EricaAssist tool with generative AI, giving more than 18,000 employees faster real-time guidance to resolve client needs. Investors may view this as an efficiency and service-quality improvement that can help lower costs over time. BofA enhances AI-powered tool to resolve client needs faster
• Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer reportedly added Bank of America to its latest buy ideas list with a near-perfect quant rating, reinforcing the bullish case for BAC among analysts. Bank of America leads Oppenheimer’s latest buy additions with near-perfect quant rating
• Positive Sentiment: The bank promoted Thorsten Pauli to lead Asia Pacific capital markets, a move that underscores continued focus on investment banking and global markets opportunities. Bank of America (BAC) Names Thorsten Pauli To Lead Asia Pacific Capital Markets
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America’s small business digital banking platform again ranked first in a Keynova Group scorecard, which may bolster the view that BAC is gaining share through better digital products. Small Business Digital Banking Advances with Payment Innovations and Upgraded Invoicing and Receivables Capabilities
• Neutral Sentiment: Several stories highlighted Bank of America research on other companies, including Micron, Meta, Apple, CoreWeave, and Citizens Financial. These items mainly reflect BAC’s analyst franchise rather than a direct change in Bank of America’s fundamentals.
• Neutral Sentiment: The bank also released workplace wellbeing and broader economic commentary, which add color to the macro backdrop but are less likely to move BAC shares by themselves. BofA Report: Financial Wellbeing of Employees at U.S. Companies Hits Four-Year High, Even as Cost-of-Living Pressures Persist

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Bank of America from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Bank of America from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Barclays boosted their target price on Bank of America from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Bank of America from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.77.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC stock opened at $61.12 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $55.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.21. Bank of America Corporation has a 52-week low of $44.75 and a 52-week high of $62.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $433.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.02, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.08. Bank of America had a return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 17.56%.The company had revenue of $8.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 25.69%.

Bank of America 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.