13,044 Shares in Bank of America Corporation $BAC Purchased by Bank of Hawaii

Key Points

• Bank of Hawaii has acquired a new position in Bank of America Corporation, purchasing 13,044 shares valued at approximately $544,000.
• Bank of America recently announced a stock repurchase program permitting the buyback of up to $40 billion in shares, suggesting that the board believes the stocks are undervalued.
• The company has increased its quarterly dividend to $0.28 per share, reflecting a positive change from the previous dividend of $0.26.

Bank of Hawaii purchased a new position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 13,044 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $544,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $49.53 on Tuesday. Bank of America Corporation has a 12-month low of $33.06 and a 12-month high of $49.66. The company has a market cap of $366.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.48, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.31. 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 company's 50-day moving average price is $47.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.82.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program 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 reacquire up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a positive change from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This 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 accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BAC shares. HSBC downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.13.

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.

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