Bank of America Corporation $BAC Shares Purchased by Banque Transatlantique SA

Key Points

• Banque Transatlantique SA increased its stake in Bank of America by 141.5%, acquiring a total of 108,679 shares valued at $4.19 million during the first quarter.
• Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Bank of America by 45.1%, with a total of 48,112,090 shares worth over $2 billion following their recent purchases.
• Bank of America has recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.28 per share, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Banque Transatlantique SA increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 141.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 108,679 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 63,679 shares during the period. Banque Transatlantique SA's holdings in Bank of America were worth $4,191,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.3% in 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 buying an additional 803,570 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 45.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 14,960,086 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 45,092,517 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,981,816,000 after purchasing an additional 5,092,504 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 39,233,293 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,637,205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,413,313 shares during the period. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its position in Bank of America by 31.1% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 39,051,595 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,716,318,000 after buying an additional 9,258,040 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BAC. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $53.00 price target on the stock. Cowen started coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Hsbc Global Res cut Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.39.

Bank of America Trading Down 1.8%

NYSE:BAC traded down $0.93 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $49.69. 40,059,616 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 33,778,700. 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 company has a market capitalization of $368.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.34. Bank of America Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.06 and a twelve month high of $50.92. The business has a 50-day moving average of $47.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.08.

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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. The business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change 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%. Bank of America's payout ratio is currently 30.41%.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly 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 can be accessed through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.