Bank of America Corporation $BAC Shares Sold by Cooper Financial Group

Key Points

• Cooper Financial Group decreased its holdings in Bank of America Corporation by 25.8%, selling 12,385 shares and owning 35,558 shares valued at approximately $1.68 million.
• Bank of America recently announced a $40 billion stock repurchase plan, indicating leadership believes the stock is undervalued, while they also raised their quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.28 per share.
• Analysts project Bank of America will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year, with a consensus price target of $52.63 following various rating adjustments by investment firms.

Cooper Financial Group lessened its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 25.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,558 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 12,385 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group's holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,683,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nova Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 75.2% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. HighMark Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 233.6% during the first quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,061 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 41.2% during the first quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,049 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 67.8% during the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 1,047 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $51.58 on Wednesday. The company's fifty day moving average is $49.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.09. 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 12-month low of $33.06 and a 12-month high of $52.88. The company has a market cap of $382.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.34.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. The company's revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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%.

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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Bank of America from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Baird R W cut Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Bank of America from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 target price on Bank of America and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities cut Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $52.63.

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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