AQR Capital Management LLC Sells 1,381,145 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Bank of America by 28.3%, selling 1,381,145 shares, and now holds 3,494,036 shares valued at approximately $143 million.
• Bank of America announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.28 per share, representing a yield of 2.2%, and has initiated a $40 billion share repurchase plan to buy back up to 11.1% of its outstanding shares.
• Recent analyst ratings show a consensus of 16 buy ratings versus 5 hold ratings for Bank of America, with a consensus price target set at $50.39.

AQR Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 28.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,494,036 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,381,145 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $143,046,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 108,872 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,785,000 after buying an additional 25,143 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in Bank of America by 35.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 860,005 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,797,000 after acquiring an additional 226,246 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 20,957 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $921,000 after purchasing an additional 5,691 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advantage Inc. purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at $265,000. Finally, Crestline Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at $1,162,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. HSBC lowered shares of Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Phillip Securities cut shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.39.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total transaction of $6,762,177.87. Following the sale, the insider 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC traded down $0.15 during trading on Monday, hitting $49.62. 17,761,271 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 41,768,477. The company has a market cap of $367.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.50, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.34. Bank of America Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.06 and a twelve month high of $50.92. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $47.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.07. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 company 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 previous year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This is a boost from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Bank of America's payout ratio is currently 32.75%.

Bank of America declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership 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.