Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Trims Holdings in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co lowered its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 11.8% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 856,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 115,000 shares during the period. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $35,747,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 8.9% during the first quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 76,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,179,000 after buying an additional 6,203 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 12.3% in the first quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 32,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,336,000 after buying an additional 3,506 shares during the last quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 5.7% in the first quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. now owns 49,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,052,000 after buying an additional 2,641 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 39.5% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 559,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,344,000 after buying an additional 158,528 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 3.6% during the first quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 20,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $876,000 after acquiring an additional 723 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE BAC opened at $50.28 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.80. The business’s fifty day moving average is $48.03 and its 200 day moving average is $44.15. The company has a market capitalization of $372.42 billion, a PE ratio of 14.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.34. Bank of America Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $33.06 and a fifty-two week high of $50.92.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

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

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program 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 repurchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on BAC. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Phillip Securities downgraded Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $53.00 target price for the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.39.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 223,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Profile

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.