Bank of America Corporation $BAC Shares Sold by Optas LLC

Optas LLC reduced its position in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,183 shares during the period. Optas LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $654,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nova Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Bank of America by 75.2% during the second quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the first quarter valued at about $40,000. HighMark Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 233.6% during the first quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 37.1% during the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Daiwa Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.11.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $49.82 on Thursday. Bank of America Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.06 and a 52-week high of $52.88. The company has a 50 day moving average of $49.50 and a 200 day moving average of $45.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $369.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 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 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total transaction of $6,762,177.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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.