Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc Has $2.35 Million Stake in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc raised its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 49,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,383 shares during the period. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,346,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 30.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 108,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,785,000 after buying an additional 25,143 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 35.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 860,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,797,000 after buying an additional 226,246 shares during the period. Texas Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $244,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in Bank of America by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 11,677,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $513,231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,469,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Triglav Skladi D.O.O. bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,112,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of BAC stock opened at $50.60 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Bank of America Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.06 and a 1 year high of $51.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $374.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.80, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.34.

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

Bank of America announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 32.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total value of $6,762,177.87. Following the transaction, the insider owned 223,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. HSBC lowered Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $47.00 to $51.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a report on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 price objective on Bank of America and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.39.

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.