Bank of America Corporation $BAC Shares Sold by Bard Financial Services Inc.

Key Points

• Bard Financial Services Inc. reduced its stake in Bank of America by 5.9%, now holding 203,345 shares valued at approximately $9.6 million.
• Bank of America announced a new $40 billion share buyback program, indicating a belief that its stock is undervalued.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.28 per share, reflecting a 2.2% yield on an annualized basis.

Bard Financial Services Inc. reduced its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 203,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 12,750 shares during the period. Bank of America makes up about 1.1% of Bard Financial Services Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Bard Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $9,622,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Nova Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE:BAC opened at $50.60 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $374.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.34. Bank of America Corporation has a one year low of $33.06 and a one year high of $50.96. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. 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 yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is 32.75%.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the insider owned 223,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,180,656.99. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BAC shares. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Phillip Securities lowered Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, HSBC lowered Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.39.

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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