Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. Buys 1,063 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 53,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,063 shares during the quarter. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Deutsche Bank AG raised 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 during the period. Unisphere Establishment grew its position in Bank of America by 1,642.5% during the first quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 4,195,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $175,057,000 after buying an additional 3,954,250 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the second quarter valued at about $164,623,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new position in Bank of America during the first quarter valued at about $152,098,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its position in Bank of America by 62.9% during the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 8,904,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $421,564,000 after buying an additional 3,438,876 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Hsbc Global Res cut Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised Bank of America to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Twenty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.27.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $52.85 on Wednesday. Bank of America Corporation has a one year low of $33.06 and a one year high of $53.28. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $50.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $391.42 billion, a PE ratio of 14.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $28.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.05 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 15.70%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

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

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 buy 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 stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related 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 owned 223,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company 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.