Arvest Investments Inc. Sells 14,931 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Arvest Investments Inc. reduced its stake in Bank of America by 40.2% in the second quarter, holding 22,249 shares worth approximately $1,053,000.
• Bank of America announced an increased quarterly dividend of $0.28, up from $0.26, representing an annual yield of 2.2%.
• The company has authorized a $40 billion share buyback program, allowing it to repurchase up to 11.1% of its shares, suggesting management believes the stock is undervalued.

Arvest Investments Inc. lessened its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 40.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,249 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 14,931 shares during the period. Arvest Investments Inc.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,053,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. raised its position in Bank of America by 121.0% in the first quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 62,041 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,589,000 after purchasing an additional 33,963 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 7.8% in the first quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 696,416 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,061,000 after purchasing an additional 50,296 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Bank of America in the first quarter worth about $998,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 37.2% in the first quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 65,038 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,714,000 after purchasing an additional 17,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 170.5% in the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 238,473 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,951,000 after purchasing an additional 150,299 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

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 that occurred 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the subject of several recent research reports. 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 raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Bank of America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.39.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $50.60. The company had a trading volume of 29,040,071 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,655,129. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. 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. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.28. Bank of America Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.06 and a 1-year high of $51.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. The business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. Bank of America's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan 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 purchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.75%.

About Bank of America

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.