Grant Private Wealth Management Inc Raises Stock Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Grant Private Wealth Management Inc has significantly increased its stake in Bank of America by 1,516.1%, making it the firm’s 10th largest position, with holdings now worth approximately $5.59 million.
• Bank of America has recently authorized a $40 billion share repurchase plan, indicating that the board believes the company's shares are undervalued despite the significant insider sales reported.
• The financial services provider's stock has experienced a year-to-date price range, with a twelve-month low of $33.06 and a high of $52.66, currently trading around $52.27.

Grant Private Wealth Management Inc lifted its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 1,516.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 118,156 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 110,845 shares during the period. Bank of America makes up 3.2% of Grant Private Wealth Management Inc's portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Grant Private Wealth Management Inc's holdings in Bank of America were worth $5,591,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Bank of America by 45.1% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,007,718,000 after buying an additional 14,960,086 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $217,979,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 4,414.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,654,022 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $194,212,000 after acquiring an additional 4,550,930 shares in the last quarter. Unisphere Establishment raised its holdings in Bank of America by 1,642.5% during the first quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 4,195,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $175,057,000 after buying an additional 3,954,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the second quarter valued at about $164,623,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $51.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,458,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,631,645. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $48.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.63. Bank of America Corporation has a one year low of $33.06 and a one year high of $52.88. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $382.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.34.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Bank of America's payout ratio is currently 32.75%.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a share 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 often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lifted 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bank of America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Robert W. Baird reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Phillip Securities cut shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.76.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.