Avity Investment Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Avity Investment Management Inc. reduced its stock position in Bank of America by 33.5%, holding 38,044 shares valued at $1.8 million following the sale of 19,181 shares.
• Insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares at an average price of $45.57, marking a 39.91% decrease in his stock position.
• Bank of America announced a stock buyback program of up to $40 billion, indicating management's confidence in the stock's value, alongside a recent increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.28.

Avity Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 33.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 38,044 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 19,181 shares during the quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nova Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 75.2% in the second quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 529 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company'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 transaction, the insider owned 223,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $50.60 on Monday. Bank of America Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.06 and a 52 week high of $50.96. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $48.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.28. The firm has a market cap of $374.79 billion, a PE ratio of 14.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management 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 paid a $0.28 dividend. This is a boost from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BAC shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Baird R W lowered Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on 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 given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.39.

Bank of America Company 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.

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