Primecap Management Co. CA Has $414.08 Million Stock Position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Key Points

• Primecap Management Co. CA reduced its stake in Bank of America by 1.0%, holding approximately 9.9 million shares valued at $414 million after selling 104,400 shares.
• Bank of America's Board of Directors has authorized a $40 billion share repurchase plan, indicating confidence that its shares are undervalued.
• The company is set to increase its quarterly dividend to $0.28 per share, reflecting a rise from the previous amount of $0.26, with a dividend yield of 2.5%.

Primecap Management Co. CA lowered its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,922,932 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 104,400 shares during the quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA owned 0.13% of Bank of America worth $414,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Trading Down 1.2%

BAC stock traded down $0.55 during trading on Thursday, reaching $44.87. 30,604,012 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 38,320,360. The firm has a market capitalization of $332.34 billion, a PE ratio of 13.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The business's 50 day moving average price is $46.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.78. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. The business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total transaction of $6,762,177.87. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares of the company's stock, 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 is available at the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on BAC. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. HSBC cut Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Cowen initiated coverage on Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Barclays decreased their price target on Bank of America from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.13.

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.