Federated Hermes Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its stake in Bank of America Corporation by 6.6%, holding approximately 4.75 million shares valued at about $198.2 million after selling 336,410 shares.
• Bank of America reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.89 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.86.
• The company's Board of Directors authorized a $40 billion share repurchase plan, signaling management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Federated Hermes Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 6.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,749,230 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 336,410 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 0.06% of Bank of America worth $198,185,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 53.0% during 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 period. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 target price on Bank of America and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Barclays cut their target price on Bank of America from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group increased their target price on Bank of America from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Bank of America from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.13.

Bank of America Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of NYSE BAC traded down $1.51 during trading on Friday, reaching $45.76. The company had a trading volume of 36,315,599 shares, compared to its average volume of 42,932,797. The company's fifty day moving average price is $46.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.81. Bank of America Corporation has a 12 month low of $33.06 and a 12 month high of $49.31. The stock has a market cap of $344.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.38, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%. The company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 is an increase 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 2.4%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.41%.

Bank of America declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback 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.