Bank of America Corporation $BAC Shares Sold by Salomon & Ludwin LLC

Key Points

• Salomon & Ludwin LLC reduced its stake in Bank of America by 75.4%, now holding only 1,711 shares worth approximately $83,000 after selling 5,249 shares in Q2.
• Bank of America announced a significant $40 billion share buyback plan to repurchase up to 11.1% of its stock, indicating management's belief that shares are undervalued.
• The company reported a 10.8% year-over-year revenue increase with a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.06, surpassing expectations of $0.93.

Salomon & Ludwin LLC lowered its position in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 75.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,711 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,249 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $83,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 14,960,086 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.7% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 39,233,293 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,637,205,000 after buying an additional 1,413,313 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 31,956,699 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,333,351,000 after buying an additional 188,638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.4% during the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 12,970,274 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $541,250,000 after buying an additional 300,944 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $51.28 on Monday. Bank of America Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.06 and a twelve month high of $52.88. The stock's 50 day moving average is $50.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $379.83 billion, a PE ratio of 13.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.13. Bank of America had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The company had revenue of $28.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are 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 given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America's payout ratio is 30.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BAC. Citigroup raised their price target on Bank of America from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Wolfe Research raised their price target on Bank of America from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Bank of America from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Seaport Global Securities lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.29.

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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