Commerce Bank Increases Position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Key Points

• Commerce Bank increased its holdings in Bank of America by 2.3%, owning over 1.1 million shares valued at approximately $46.9 million at the end of the last quarter.
• Analysts have mixed views on Bank of America with price targets ranging from $43.50 to $54.00, and a consensus average rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Bank of America announced a quarterly dividend hike to $0.28 per share and initiated a significant stock buyback program authorizing up to $40 billion in repurchases.

Commerce Bank increased its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 2.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,124,755 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 25,618 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank's holdings in Bank of America were worth $46,936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 53.0% during the 4th quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 797 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. HSBC lowered shares of Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Cfra Research lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.13.

Bank of America Trading Down 3.4%

Shares of NYSE BAC traded down $1.62 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $45.65. 52,302,841 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 39,411,248. Bank of America Corporation has a 12-month low of $33.06 and a 12-month high of $49.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $46.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.81. The firm has a market cap of $343.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.31.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. Bank of America's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.41%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors 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 buy up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Company 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.