Swedbank AB Sells 1,342,444 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Swedbank AB reduced its stake in Bank of America by 10.4%, owning approximately $548 million worth of shares after selling 1.34 million shares during the 2nd quarter.
• Bank of America announced a stock buyback plan worth $40 billion, allowing for repurchase of up to 11.1% of its stock, indicating the board's belief that the stock is undervalued.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.28, a notable increase from the previous $0.26, representing an annualized yield of 2.2%.

Swedbank AB trimmed its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 10.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,589,972 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,342,444 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned about 0.15% of Bank of America worth $548,437,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Bank of America by 1.3% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 60,417,407 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,521,218,000 after acquiring an additional 803,570 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Bank of America by 45.1% during the first 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. Amundi grew its stake in Bank of America by 3.7% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 39,233,293 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,637,205,000 after buying an additional 1,413,313 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Bank of America by 0.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 31,956,699 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,333,351,000 after buying an additional 188,638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its stake in Bank of America by 2.4% during the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 12,970,274 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $541,250,000 after buying an additional 300,944 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:BAC traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $52.27. 98,925,969 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 41,864,695. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.45. 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 Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $33.06 and a fifty-two week high of $52.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $387.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.28, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.34.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 business 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 company earned $0.83 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. 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. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. 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. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.82.

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.