Securian Asset Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Securian Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 342,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,154 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $16,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 5,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 28,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,344,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 75.2% in the 2nd 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. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 12,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $52.02 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. Bank of America Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $33.06 and a fifty-two week high of $52.88. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.00. The company has a market cap of $385.32 billion, a PE ratio of 14.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Bank of America declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $0.28 dividend. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 30.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BAC. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Seaport Global Securities boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded shares of Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.29.

Bank of America Company 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.