Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Sells 2,028,341 Shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lessened its position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 13.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,391,975 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,028,341 shares during the period. Bank of America makes up about 2.6% of Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.18% of Bank of America worth $558,847,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc lifted its stake in Bank of America by 53.0% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $48.47. The stock had a trading volume of 24,453,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 43,373,284. The firm has a market capitalization of $365.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.74. Bank of America Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.06 and a 52 week high of $49.31.

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. The company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The firm's revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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 issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Bank of America's payout ratio is 30.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on BAC shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Argus cut their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research 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 research report on Friday, June 27th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $53.00 price objective for the company. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.03.

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.