KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys 172,400 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its position in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 6.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,819,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 172,400 shares during the period. Bank of America makes up 0.6% of KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $133,440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 45.1% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,007,718,000 after acquiring an additional 14,960,086 shares in the last quarter. Unisphere Establishment increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 1,642.5% in the first quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 4,195,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $175,057,000 after purchasing an additional 3,954,250 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter valued at approximately $164,623,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new stake in Bank of America during the first quarter valued at approximately $152,098,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in Bank of America by 62.9% in the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 8,904,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $421,564,000 after buying an additional 3,438,876 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were 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 $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BAC. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bank of America in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Bank of America from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.38.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $50.36 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $373.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $49.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Bank of America Corporation has a 12-month low of $33.06 and a 12-month high of $52.88.

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

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan 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 buy up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.75%.

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.