Bank of America Corporation $BAC Stock Position Lifted by Samlyn Capital LLC

Key Points

• Samlyn Capital LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 35.5%, owning approximately 9.19 million shares valued at $383.58 million, making it the third largest position in their portfolio.
• Several analysts have raised their target prices for Bank of America's shares, with Citigroup setting a new target at $54.00 and maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Bank of America announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.28 per share and has a $40 billion stock buyback plan approved by its board, suggesting confidence in the stock's valuation.

Samlyn Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 35.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,191,894 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,407,519 shares during the period. Bank of America comprises approximately 5.7% of Samlyn Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Samlyn Capital LLC owned approximately 0.12% of Bank of America worth $383,578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. grew its position in Bank of America by 121.0% during the first quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 62,041 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,589,000 after purchasing an additional 33,963 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 50,296 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Bank of America in the first quarter worth approximately $998,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 17,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 150,299 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Truist Financial boosted their target price 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Sixteen 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 has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction of $6,762,177.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $49.69 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $368.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.34. Bank of America Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.06 and a 1-year high of $50.92. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.09. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This is an increase from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.41%.

Bank of America declared that its board has approved a stock 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 purchase up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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