Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) Shares Acquired by Alberta Investment Management Corp

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp significantly boosted its stake in Bank of America by 676.1%, acquiring a total of 166,096 shares valued at approximately $6.93 million.
• Bank of America recently announced a $40 billion share buyback program, indicating the board's belief that the stock is undervalued, along with an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.28.
• The company's earnings per share for the last quarter were reported at $0.89, exceeding analysts' expectations, and it had a net margin of 14.81%.

Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 676.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 166,096 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 144,696 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp's holdings in Bank of America were worth $6,931,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 108,872 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,785,000 after buying an additional 25,143 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 35.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 860,005 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,797,000 after buying an additional 226,246 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 137,308 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,035,000 after buying an additional 20,357 shares during the last quarter. Yoffe Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at $245,000. Finally, Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,413 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $677,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Trading Down 3.4%

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $45.65 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $343.83 billion, a PE ratio of 13.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.31. Bank of America Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.06 and a twelve month high of $49.31. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $46.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.81. 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program 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 programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 positive change from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is 30.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 $10,180,656.99. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Bank of America from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Argus lowered their price target on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.13.

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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