Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Decreases Holdings in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI trimmed its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 16.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,959,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 584,746 shares during the period. Bank of America makes up 1.0% of Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $123,511,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC stock opened at $49.50 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $366.61 billion, a PE ratio of 14.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.34. Bank of America Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.06 and a 52-week high of $50.92. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $47.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

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

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $0.28 dividend. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 32.75%.

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 dated 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 in the company, valued at $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BAC. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 target price on Bank of America and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities downgraded Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.39.

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.