Banque Transatlantique SA Raises Stake in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

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 grew its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 141.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 108,679 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 63,679 shares during the period. Banque Transatlantique SA's holdings in Bank of America were worth $4,191,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 30.0% during 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 period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its stake in Bank of America by 35.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 860,005 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,797,000 after purchasing an additional 226,246 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 37.3% during the 4th quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 20,957 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $921,000 after purchasing an additional 5,691 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth $5,403,000. Finally, Brooks Moore & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of America by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Brooks Moore & Associates Inc. now owns 40,622 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,785,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price target 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. HSBC downgraded Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, Baird R W downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE:BAC traded down $0.93 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $49.69. 40,059,616 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 33,778,700. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $47.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.09. Bank of America Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.06 and a 1 year high of $50.92. The company has a market cap of $368.07 billion, a PE ratio of 14.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 is a boost from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Bank of America's payout ratio is currently 32.75%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan 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 reacquire up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.