Bank of America Corporation $BAC Shares Sold by Korea Investment CORP

Key Points

• Korea Investment CORP reduced its stake in Bank of America by 10.6% in Q1, selling 660,692 shares, leaving it with a total of approximately 5.56 million shares.
• Bank of America recently announced a dividend increase from $0.26 to $0.28 per share, signaling a positive change in its financial outlook.
• The company initiated a $40 billion stock repurchase program, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Korea Investment CORP lowered its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 10.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,560,646 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 660,692 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises about 0.6% of Korea Investment CORP's portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.07% of Bank of America worth $232,046,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 8.7% during the first quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 706,563 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,485,000 after purchasing an additional 56,788 shares during the period. Allen Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 24.5% during the first quarter. Allen Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,902 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 1,750 shares during the period. Aviso Financial Inc. increased its stake in Bank of America by 3.1% during the first quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 44,432 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,854,000 after purchasing an additional 1,344 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its stake in Bank of America by 15.7% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 38,391 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,602,000 after purchasing an additional 5,211 shares during the period. Finally, 17 Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the first quarter worth about $220,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on BAC shares. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 price target on shares of Bank of America and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Phillip Securities downgraded Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set 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 issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.13.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available at this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.3%

BAC stock traded up $0.1450 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $48.0650. 33,716,220 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 32,971,898. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $46.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $356.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.05, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.31. Bank of America Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.06 and a 52-week high of $49.31. 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 posted its 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. The firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%.The firm's revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This is a boost from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Bank of America's payout ratio is currently 30.41%.

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

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.