Bank of America Corporation $BAC Shares Purchased by Meitav Investment House Ltd.

Key Points

• Meitav Investment House Ltd. increased its holdings in Bank of America by 83.1% in the second quarter, acquiring an additional 78,744 shares, bringing their total to 173,546 shares valued at $8,208,000.
• Bank of America announced a dividend increase to $0.28 per share, up from $0.26, with a dividend yield of 2.2% and a payout ratio of 32.75%.
• The company initiated a $40 billion share buyback plan, representing up to 11.1% of its stock, as a signal that it believes its shares are undervalued.

Meitav Investment House Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 83.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 173,546 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 78,744 shares during the quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $8,208,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BAC. Nova Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Bank of America by 75.2% in the 2nd quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 529 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. HighMark Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 233.6% in the 1st quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,061 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 743 shares during the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 37.1% in the 1st quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 1st quarter worth approximately $50,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC stock opened at $50.36 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $373.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33. 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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.35. Bank of America Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.06 and a 52 week high of $52.88.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.75%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BAC shares. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bank of America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Bank of America in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $53.38.

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 in the company, valued at $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently 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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