10,719 Shares in Bank of America Corporation $BAC Purchased by Balefire LLC

Key Points

• Balefire LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America by purchasing 10,719 shares, valued at approximately $507,000, in the second quarter.
• Multiple institutional investors have increased their stakes in Bank of America, with Brighton Jones LLC raising theirs by 30.0% and Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG by 35.7%.
• Bank of America recently announced a dividend increase to $0.28 per share and approved a $40 billion share repurchase plan, signaling confidence in its stock value.

Balefire LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 10,719 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $507,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BAC. Centurion Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,862 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 75.2% during the second quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 529 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 16,707 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $734,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the period. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 12,567 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $524,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 20,620 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $906,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $52.27. 98,925,969 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,208,044. Bank of America Corporation has a 12-month low of $33.06 and a 12-month high of $52.66. The business's fifty day moving average price is $48.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.53. The company has a market cap of $387.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.28, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

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 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 analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $0.28 dividend. This is a boost from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.75%.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.82.

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.