Bank of America Corporation $BAC Shares Bought by Merit Financial Group LLC

Key Points

• Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 13.1% during the second quarter, acquiring a total of 195,104 shares worth approximately $9.23 million.
• Bank of America recently announced a $40 billion stock buyback program, allowing the company to repurchase up to 11.1% of its shares, indicating confidence in the stock's valuation.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.28 per share, reflecting a positive change from the previous $0.26 dividend, representing a yield of 2.2%.

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 195,104 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 22,593 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $9,232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Nova Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 75.2% during the 2nd quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 529 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the first quarter worth approximately $40,000. HighMark Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 233.6% in the first quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,061 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 743 shares during the period. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the second quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 37.1% during the 1st quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other 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 sale, the insider owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at $10,180,656.99. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC stock opened at $50.63 on Monday. Bank of America Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.06 and a 1 year high of $52.88. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $374.98 billion, a PE ratio of 14.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.30.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was 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 presently 32.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Bank of America from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Robert W. Baird reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Phillip Securities lowered Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Bank of America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $53.38.

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.

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