Bennett Associates Wealth Management Makes New $277,000 Investment in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Bennett Associates Wealth Management has invested approximately $277,000 in Bank of America by acquiring 5,857 shares during the second quarter.
• Bank of America's board approved a $40 billion stock buyback plan, allowing the company to repurchase up to 11.1% of its stocks, indicating that leadership may see the stock as undervalued.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend payment to $0.28 per share, up from $0.26, which represents an annualized yield of 2.2%.

Bennett Associates Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,857 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $277,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Bank of America by 45.1% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,007,718,000 after acquiring an additional 14,960,086 shares during the period. Unisphere Establishment grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1,642.5% in the first quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 4,195,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $175,057,000 after purchasing an additional 3,954,250 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter valued at $164,623,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the first quarter valued at $152,098,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position in Bank of America by 62.9% during the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 8,904,561 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $421,564,000 after purchasing an additional 3,438,876 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $50.36 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Bank of America Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.06 and a twelve month high of $52.88. The company has a fifty day moving average of $49.42 and a 200-day moving average of $45.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $373.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.79 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its board has approved a stock buyback 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 buy up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company'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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Phillip Securities cut Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Seaport Global Securities upped their target price on Bank of America from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bank of America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $53.38.

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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