Allium Financial Advisors LLC Acquires New Holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Key Points

• Allium Financial Advisors LLC acquired 10,968 shares of Bank of America, valued at approximately $458,000, in its recent SEC filing.
• Bank of America announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.28 per share, reflecting its commitment to returning value to shareholders with a yield of 2.31%.
• The company also authorized a $40 billion stock repurchase program, indicating the board's belief that the stock is currently undervalued.

Allium Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 10,968 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $458,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 142,289,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,243,000,000 after acquiring an additional 2,033,229 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Bank of America by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 122,437,422 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,381,126,000 after buying an additional 11,691,451 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in Bank of America by 23.9% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Bank of America by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,985,785,000 after buying an additional 9,980,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Bank of America by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 60,417,407 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,521,218,000 after buying an additional 803,570 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. HSBC lowered shares of Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their target price for the company from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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 report on Wednesday, April 16th. One research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.03.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE BAC traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $48.03. The company had a trading volume of 9,515,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 42,963,688. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $45.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $361.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.04, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.30. Bank of America Corporation has a 12-month low of $33.06 and a 12-month high of $49.31.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The firm's revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. 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 (DPR) is presently 30.41%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan 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 buy up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Bank of America

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.