Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Grows Holdings in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,373,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 69,610 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $64,981,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nova Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in 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 valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the period. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of BAC stock opened at $51.36 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $48.33 and a 200 day moving average of $44.40. The stock has a market cap of $380.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.34. Bank of America Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.06 and a twelve month high of $51.63.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted 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. The company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. Bank of America’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 32.75%.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other Bank of America 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 transaction of $6,762,177.87. Following the sale, 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 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Baird R W lowered shares of Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. HSBC lowered shares of Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Truist Financial raised their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Bank of America from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 price target on shares of Bank of America and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.61.

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.