Bank of America Corporation $BAC Shares Sold by Freedom Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Freedom Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in Bank of America by 17.5%, ending up with 24,320 shares worth $1,015,000 after selling 5,144 shares.
• Bank of America recently declared an increased quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, up from $0.26, which will be paid out on September 26th.
• The company also initiated a $40 billion stock buyback program, indicating confidence in its undervaluation and an intention to repurchase up to 11.1% of its shares.

Freedom Investment Management Inc. lessened its position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 17.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,320 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,144 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,985,785,000 after buying an additional 9,980,859 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Bank of America by 1.3% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 60,417,407 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,521,218,000 after purchasing an additional 803,570 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Bank of America by 45.1% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,007,718,000 after purchasing an additional 14,960,086 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 45,092,517 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,981,816,000 after purchasing an additional 5,092,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in Bank of America by 31.1% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 39,051,595 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,716,318,000 after purchasing an additional 9,258,040 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $53.00 price objective for the company. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.13.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of Bank of America 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 sale, the insider owned 223,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $49.4850 on Monday. Bank of America Corporation has a 12-month low of $33.06 and a 12-month high of $49.66. The company has a market capitalization of $366.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.31. 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 firm's fifty day moving average price is $47.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.81.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Bank of America's payout ratio is presently 32.75%.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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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