Regal Partners Ltd Has $87.98 Million Stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Key Points

• Regal Partners Ltd has increased its holdings in Bank of America by 7.6%, owning over 2.1 million shares valued at approximately $87.98 million, making it the firm's fourth-largest holding.
• Bank of America reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.89, surpassing analysts' expectations, while also announcing a stock buyback program of $40 billion.
• The bank recently approved a quarterly dividend increase to $0.28, representing an annual dividend of $1.12, which reflects a boost from the previous $0.26 dividend.

Regal Partners Ltd raised its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 7.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,108,295 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 149,781 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises about 8.8% of Regal Partners Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Regal Partners Ltd's holdings in Bank of America were worth $87,979,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dagco Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the first quarter worth $89,000. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD increased its position in Bank of America by 7.3% during the first quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 33,153 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,383,000 after acquiring an additional 2,246 shares during the last quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. increased its position in Bank of America by 36.6% during the first quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 250,246 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,443,000 after acquiring an additional 67,044 shares during the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its position in Bank of America by 266.5% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 1,334 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Bank of America by 5.4% during the first quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,207,617 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $91,969,000 after acquiring an additional 113,516 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total transaction of $6,762,177.87. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 price objective on Bank of America and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Baird R W cut Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Phillip Securities cut Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Hsbc Global Res cut Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Cowen started coverage on Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.13.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $47.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,061,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 42,389,336. The firm has a market capitalization of $353.13 billion, a PE ratio of 13.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $46.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.79. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. The firm 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This is a boost from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.41%.

Bank of America 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.