Summit Financial LLC Boosts Holdings in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Summit Financial LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 27.9%, owning 102,500 shares valued at $4,277,000.
• Bank of America recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.28, representing an annual yield of 2.3%.
• Bank of America has seen mixed ratings from analysts, with 17 Buy ratings and 5 Hold ratings, alongside a recent decline in stock price.

Summit Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 27.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 102,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 22,374 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $4,277,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vega Investment Solutions bought a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE BAC traded up $0.1390 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $49.6190. 25,549,437 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 41,989,820. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $47.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.81. Bank of America Corporation has a one year low of $33.06 and a one year high of $49.66. The company has a market cap of $367.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.31.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict 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 buyback 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 reacquire up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is 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 paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a boost from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Bank of America's payout ratio is 32.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, 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. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.13.

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.