Bank of America Corporation $BAC Shares Bought by Ancora Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Ancora Advisors LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 1.0%, acquiring an additional 8,008 shares, bringing their total holdings to 810,820 shares, valued at approximately $33.8 million.
• Bank of America announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, up from $0.26, and authorized a $40 billion share buyback, indicating confidence in its stock value.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Bank of America, with a target price of $50.39, as the company reported strong earnings and increasing revenue.

Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 810,820 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 8,008 shares during the period. Bank of America makes up 0.8% of Ancora Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Ancora Advisors LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $33,836,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.3% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 60,417,407 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,521,218,000 after buying an additional 803,570 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Bank of America by 45.1% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,007,718,000 after purchasing an additional 14,960,086 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 45,092,517 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,981,816,000 after purchasing an additional 5,092,504 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in Bank of America by 31.1% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 9,258,040 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Bank of America by 0.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 31,956,699 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,333,351,000 after purchasing an additional 188,638 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of BAC stock traded down $0.93 during trading on Friday, reaching $49.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 40,059,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,778,700. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $368.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.34. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $47.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.08. Bank of America Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.06 and a 1-year high of $50.92.

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

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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 issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is an increase 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 presently 30.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of Bank of America 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on BAC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $53.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Sixteen 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 company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.39.

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.