Bank of America Corporation $BAC Shares Acquired by Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC

Key Points

• Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC significantly increased its stake in Bank of America by 430.3%, now owning 29,558 shares valued at approximately $1.4 million.
• Bank of America recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.28 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 2.2%.
• The company announced a $40 billion stock buyback plan, allowing it to repurchase up to 11.1% of its outstanding shares, indicating confidence in the stock’s valuation.

Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 430.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,558 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 23,984 shares during the period. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,399,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of BAC. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 60,417,407 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,521,218,000 after buying an additional 803,570 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 45.1% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,007,718,000 after buying an additional 14,960,086 shares during the period. Amundi raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,413,313 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 31,956,699 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,333,351,000 after buying an additional 188,638 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 12,970,274 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $541,250,000 after buying an additional 300,944 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $52.03 on Tuesday. Bank of America Corporation has a 12 month low of $33.06 and a 12 month high of $52.66. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $385.39 billion, a PE ratio of 15.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.34.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last released 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. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%.The business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors 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. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.75%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. HSBC downgraded Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Bank of America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report 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 an average price target of $50.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction, the insider 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Bank of America

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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