10,297 Shares in Bank of America Corporation $BAC Acquired by Second Line Capital LLC

Key Points

• Second Line Capital LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America, purchasing 10,297 shares valued at approximately $430,000 in the first quarter.
• Bank of America plans to implement a $40 billion share repurchase program, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.
• The company also announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.28, with an annual yield of 2.2%.

Second Line Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 10,297 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $430,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Titleist Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 27,073 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,130,000 after acquiring an additional 721 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 34,112 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,423,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,537,532 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $189,351,000 after buying an additional 91,339 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 12,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $522,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the period. Finally, Palogic Value Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. now owns 49,175 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,052,000 after purchasing an additional 2,641 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the firm'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 sale, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,180,656.99. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BAC. TD Cowen began coverage on Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $53.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Phillip Securities downgraded Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.39.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE BAC traded down $0.55 on Wednesday, hitting $49.87. 15,894,654 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 41,834,230. The business's fifty day moving average is $47.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.00. Bank of America Corporation has a 12 month low of $33.06 and a 12 month high of $50.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $369.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.60, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

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