Plan Group Financial LLC Takes $239,000 Position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Key Points

• Plan Group Financial LLC acquired 5,735 shares of Bank of America Corporation during Q1, valued at approximately $239,000.
• Insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares at $45.57 each, resulting in a significant 39.91% decrease in his ownership of the stock.
• Bank of America has approved a $40 billion share buyback plan and increased its quarterly dividend to $0.28 per share, reflecting confidence in the company's value.

Plan Group Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 5,735 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,876,853,000 after buying an additional 17,031,143 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Bank of America by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 122,437,422 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,381,126,000 after purchasing an additional 11,691,451 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,985,785,000 after purchasing an additional 9,980,859 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Bank of America by 39.6% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 33,152,004 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,457,031,000 after buying an additional 9,409,076 shares during the period. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in Bank of America by 31.1% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 39,051,595 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,716,318,000 after buying an additional 9,258,040 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC stock traded down $0.55 during trading on Thursday, hitting $44.87. 30,604,012 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 38,320,360. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $46.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.79. Bank of America Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.06 and a 1 year high of $49.31. The company has a market cap of $332.34 billion, a PE ratio of 13.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a positive change from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Bank of America's payout ratio is 30.41%.

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

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.