Bank of America Corporation $BAC Shares Acquired by Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC

Key Points

• Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America Corporation by 3.2%, acquiring an additional 6,824 shares, bringing its total to 217,938 shares valued at approximately $9,095,000.
• Bank of America announced a new stock buyback plan authorizing up to $40 billion for share repurchases, signifying a belief that the stock is undervalued.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend increase from $0.26 to $0.28 per share, which will be paid on September 26th, representing an annualized yield of 2.3%.

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 217,938 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,824 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $9,095,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 121.0% during the 1st quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 62,041 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,589,000 after purchasing an additional 33,963 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 696,416 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,061,000 after purchasing an additional 50,296 shares during the period. Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at $998,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 37.2% during the 1st quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 65,038 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,714,000 after purchasing an additional 17,619 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 170.5% during the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 238,473 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,951,000 after purchasing an additional 150,299 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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 dated 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 sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on BAC. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 target price on shares of Bank of America and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. HSBC cut shares of Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their target price for the company from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. 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, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.39.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of BAC stock traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $50.17. 31,574,913 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 41,886,930. Bank of America Corporation has a 12-month low of $33.06 and a 12-month high of $50.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company's 50-day moving average price is $48.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $371.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.34.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. The company 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.75%.

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.