Bank of America Corporation $BAC Shares Purchased by Vident Advisory LLC

Key Points

• Vident Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America shares by 39.1% in the first quarter, now owning 838,032 shares valued at approximately $34.97 million.
• Bank of America announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.28 per share, with a payment date set for September 26th.
• Analyst ratings for Bank of America vary, with seventeen analysts offering a "Buy" rating and others downgrading it to "Sell," highlighting a divergence in market sentiment.

Vident Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 39.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 838,032 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 235,542 shares during the quarter. Vident Advisory LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $34,971,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BAC shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Baird R W downgraded Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. TD Cowen started coverage on Bank of America in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $53.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 target price on Bank of America and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.13.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC stock opened at $50.51 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $374.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.94. Bank of America Corporation has a 12-month low of $33.06 and a 12-month high of $50.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. The business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a positive change from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.41%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total value of $6,762,177.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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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