Bank of America Corporation $BAC Shares Sold by Ascent Group LLC

Key Points

• Ascent Group LLC has reduced its stake in Bank of America by 13.5%, selling 16,565 shares and now holding 106,561 shares worth approximately $5.04 million.
• Bank of America announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.28 per share, an annual yield of 2.2%, along with a stock buyback program of up to $40 billion.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Bank of America, with a target price of $53.38, reflecting recent upgrades in price objectives from multiple firms.

Ascent Group LLC cut its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 13.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 106,561 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 16,565 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $5,042,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 4.4% in the second quarter. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 5,126 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 2.3% in the second quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,862 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 75.2% in the second quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 529 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 1.9% in the first quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 12,567 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rainier Family Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 3.9% in the second quarter. Rainier Family Wealth Inc. now owns 6,396 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Baird R W cut Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. HSBC boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $53.38.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $50.63 on Friday. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $49.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.26. Bank of America Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.06 and a 1-year high of $52.88. The company has a market cap of $374.98 billion, a PE ratio of 14.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.75%.

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

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was 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 owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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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