Bank of America Corporation $BAC Position Increased by Community Financial Services Group LLC

Key Points

• Community Financial Services Group LLC has increased its stake in Bank of America by 3.5%, holding 169,057 shares with a value of approximately $8 million, making it the company's 20th largest position.
• Bank of America announced a $40 billion share buyback plan, indicating management's belief that its shares are undervalued, and is also increasing its quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.28 per share.
• Analysts have a positive outlook on Bank of America, with 17 investment firms rating it as a Buy, and price targets ranging significantly, with Morgan Stanley raising its target to $66.00.

Community Financial Services Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 3.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 169,057 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,787 shares during the quarter. Bank of America makes up approximately 1.6% of Community Financial Services Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Community Financial Services Group LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $8,000,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Bank of America by 30.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 108,872 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,785,000 after purchasing an additional 25,143 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 27.4% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 172,511 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,199,000 after buying an additional 37,126 shares during the last quarter. CGN Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 27.6% during the first quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 9,617 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $401,000 after buying an additional 2,082 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 10.1% during the first quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 12,472 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $520,000 after buying an additional 1,139 shares during the period. Finally, TrueWealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,006 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $50.67 on Thursday. 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 firm's 50 day moving average is $49.29 and its 200-day moving average is $45.13. Bank of America Corporation has a 12-month low of $33.06 and a 12-month high of $52.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $375.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. The firm 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 revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America's payout ratio is presently 32.75%.

Insider Activity

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 transaction of $6,762,177.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on BAC. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup raised their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Baird R W cut shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $52.78.

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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