Belmont Capital LLC Has $397,000 Stake in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Belmont Capital LLC sold 86,520 shares of Bank of America, reducing its ownership by 90.1% to a total of 9,514 shares, valued at approximately $397,000.
• The company has announced a new $40.00 billion stock buyback program, allowing it to repurchase up to 11.1% of its shares, reflecting management's belief that the stock is undervalued.
• Bank of America increased its quarterly dividend to $0.28 per share, up from $0.26, indicating a positive change in its financial position.

Belmont Capital LLC lessened its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 90.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,514 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 86,520 shares during the quarter. Belmont Capital LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.3% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 60,417,407 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,521,218,000 after acquiring an additional 803,570 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 45.1% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,007,718,000 after acquiring an additional 14,960,086 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 45,092,517 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,981,816,000 after acquiring an additional 5,092,504 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.7% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 39,233,293 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,637,205,000 after acquiring an additional 1,413,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 31.1% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 39,051,595 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,716,318,000 after acquiring an additional 9,258,040 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the firm'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 value of $6,762,177.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,180,656.99. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 price target on Bank of America and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Baird R W downgraded Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. HSBC downgraded Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.39.

Bank of America Stock Down 1.8%

NYSE BAC traded down $0.93 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $49.69. 40,059,616 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 33,778,700. The business's 50-day moving average is $47.95 and its 200-day moving average is $44.09. Bank of America Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.06 and a twelve month high of $50.92. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $368.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.34.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Bank of America's payout ratio is 32.75%.

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.