Eastern Bank Buys 227,749 Shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Key Points

• Earnings Performance: Bank of America reported earnings per share of $0.89 for the latest quarter, exceeding analyst expectations by $0.03, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 4.3%.
• Stock Repurchase Program: The Board of Directors has approved a $40 billion stock buyback program, indicating confidence in the company's valuation.
• Dividend Increase: Bank of America declared a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, up from $0.26, reflecting a yield of 2.33% and a dividend payout ratio of 30.41%.

Eastern Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 20.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,363,308 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 227,749 shares during the period. Bank of America comprises 1.1% of Eastern Bank's portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Eastern Bank's holdings in Bank of America were worth $56,891,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Vega Investment Solutions bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc raised its stake in Bank of America by 53.0% in the 4th quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 797 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on BAC. Baird R W cut Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Bank of America from $49.50 to $43.50 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Bank of America from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Bank of America in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $53.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 target price on Bank of America and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.13.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE:BAC traded down $1.62 during trading on Friday, reaching $45.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 52,302,792 shares, compared to its average volume of 43,048,586. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $46.22 and a 200-day moving average of $43.81. The firm has a market cap of $343.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.30.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%. The business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is 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 repurchase up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.