Bank of America Corporation $BAC Shares Bought by Acadian Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 108.8% in the first quarter, now holding over 3.24 million shares valued at approximately $135.2 million.
• Bank of America recently announced a $40 billion share repurchase program, signaling confidence from the company's leadership in the stock's value.
• The bank has increased its quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.28, representing an annual yield of 2.2%, effective for shareholders of record on September 5th.

Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 108.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,240,132 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,688,523 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $135,196,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vega Investment Solutions bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 price target on Bank of America and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Baird R W cut Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.39.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of BAC stock traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $50.60. The stock had a trading volume of 27,849,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,238,896. Bank of America Corporation has a 12-month low of $33.06 and a 12-month high of $50.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $374.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.34. The firm's 50-day moving average is $48.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.28. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders 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 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.75%.

Bank of America declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.