Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Westwood Holdings Group Inc.

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. reduced its stake in Bank of America by 2.1%, now holding approximately 2.7 million shares valued at $113.4 million, making it the group's 22nd largest holding.
• Bank of America has authorized a $40 billion share repurchase plan, indicating that its leadership believes the stock is undervalued, and also recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.28 per share.
• For the last quarter, Bank of America reported earnings per share of $0.89, surpassing analysts' expectations, while revenue was $22.27 billion, below forecasts of $26.79 billion.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. cut its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 2.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,717,421 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 57,293 shares during the period. Bank of America makes up approximately 0.9% of Westwood Holdings Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $113,398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BAC. Gradient Investments LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 7.8% during the first quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 696,416 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,061,000 after purchasing an additional 50,296 shares during the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 158,455 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $69,640,000 after buying an additional 17,880 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter worth $998,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 37.2% in the 1st quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 65,038 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,714,000 after buying an additional 17,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 170.5% in the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 238,473 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,951,000 after acquiring an additional 150,299 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Price Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $45.83 on Tuesday. Bank of America Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.06 and a 1 year 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 price of $46.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.76. The company has a market cap of $339.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.40, a PEG ratio of 1.78 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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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%. Bank of America's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict 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 authorized a share repurchase plan 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 plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This is a positive change from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.41%.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total value of $6,762,177.87. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BAC. Phillip Securities cut shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays reduced 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Cfra Research upped their price objective on Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.

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