Bank of America Corporation $BAC Shares Bought by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Key Points

• Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 10.5% in Q2, acquiring a total of 194,509 shares worth approximately $9.2 million.
• Bank of America announced a new $40 billion share repurchase program, allowing it to buy back up to 11.1% of its outstanding shares, reflecting management's belief that the stock is undervalued.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.28 per share, indicating a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 194,509 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 18,526 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $9,204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 121.0% in the first quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 62,041 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,589,000 after purchasing an additional 33,963 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 7.8% in the first quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 696,416 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,061,000 after purchasing an additional 50,296 shares during the period. Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the first quarter valued at about $998,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 37.2% in the first quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 65,038 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,714,000 after purchasing an additional 17,619 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 170.5% in the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 238,473 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,951,000 after purchasing an additional 150,299 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC opened at $52.27 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Bank of America Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.06 and a 52-week high of $52.66. The company has a 50 day moving average of $48.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.55. The company has a market cap of $387.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.34.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. Bank of America's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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 approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This is an increase 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 2.1%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on BAC. Baird R W cut shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. HSBC cut shares of Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.82.

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.

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