Banque Pictet & Cie SA Lowers Stock Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Banque Pictet & Cie SA has decreased its stake in Bank of America Corporation by 26.1%, now holding 829,613 shares valued at approximately $39.26 million.
• Several brokerages have adjusted their price targets for Bank of America, with Goldman Sachs raising its target from $46 to $52 and Citi increasing its target from $54 to $58, while HSBC downgraded from a "buy" to a "hold" rating.
• Bank of America recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.28 per share and disclosed a $40 billion stock buyback plan, indicating confidence in its stock valuation.

Banque Pictet & Cie SA reduced its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 26.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 829,613 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 292,764 shares during the period. Banque Pictet & Cie SA's holdings in Bank of America were worth $39,257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nova Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 75.2% during the 2nd quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 529 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, HighMark Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 233.6% during the 1st quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,061 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 743 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BAC. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Bank of America from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, HSBC downgraded Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their target price for the company from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.92.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE BAC opened at $51.84 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $384.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.34. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $48.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.81. Bank of America Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $33.06 and a fifty-two week high of $52.88.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the company posted $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 Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.75%.

Bank of America declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the insider owned 223,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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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