Bank of America Corporation $BAC Shares Bought by B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG

Key Points

• B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG increased its stake in Bank of America Corporation by 34.5%, holding 637,101 shares valued at approximately $26.59 million after acquiring an additional 163,555 shares.
• Bank of America plans a $40 billion stock repurchase program, allowing it to buy back up to 11.1% of its shares, indicating that the board believes the stock is undervalued.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.26 to $0.28 per share, reflecting a strong commitment to returning value to shareholders.

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG increased its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 34.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 637,101 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 163,555 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings in Bank of America were worth $26,586,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $53.00 price target on the stock. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Cowen started coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.13.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.5%

BAC stock traded up $0.27 on Friday, hitting $50.76. 32,491,463 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 34,794,552. Bank of America Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.06 and a twelve month high of $50.92. 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 business's fifty day moving average is $47.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $375.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Bank of America announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This is an increase from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.41%.

Bank of America 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.