Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Sells 350,201 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Douglas Lane & Associates LLC has reduced its stake in Bank of America Corporation by 16.5%, now owning approximately 1.2% of the company's holdings, which are valued at $83.6 million.
• The company recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.28 per share, up from $0.26, reflecting a 2.2% yield.
• Bank of America has initiated a $40 billion share repurchase program, indicating the board's belief that its shares are undervalued.

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC trimmed its position in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 16.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,766,782 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 350,201 shares during the period. Bank of America accounts for approximately 1.2% of Douglas Lane & Associates LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $83,604,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Vega Investment Solutions bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the first quarter worth $40,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a report on Friday, June 27th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. HSBC lowered Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Bank of America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.39.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $50.60. The company had a trading volume of 27,849,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,317,604. 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 company has a market cap of $374.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.80, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.34. Bank of America Corporation has a 12-month low of $33.06 and a 12-month high of $50.96. The company has a fifty day moving average of $48.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.28.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%.Bank of America's revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America's payout ratio is currently 32.75%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.