Boston Partners Raises Holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Key Points

• Boston Partners increased its stake in Bank of America by 35.3%, holding over 6.3 million shares valued at approximately $263.99 million.
• Bank of America recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, up from the previous $0.26, representing an annual yield of 2.3%.
• Numerous institutional investors, including Capital World Investors and Deutsche Bank, have significantly increased their positions in Bank of America, highlighting a strong interest from large stakeholders.

Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 35.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,329,415 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,650,089 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned approximately 0.08% of Bank of America worth $263,986,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Bank of America by 13.0% in the first quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 88,963 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,712,000 after buying an additional 10,248 shares during the last quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 69.2% in the first quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,866 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 763 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 4.2% in the first quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 206,486 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,617,000 after purchasing an additional 8,338 shares during the period. Triglav Skladi D.O.O. increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 13.9% in the first quarter. Triglav Skladi D.O.O. now owns 184,240 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,690,000 after purchasing an additional 22,452 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.4% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 12,970,274 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $541,250,000 after purchasing an additional 300,944 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of Bank of America stock traded down $0.80 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $46.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 26,258,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 42,285,402. Bank of America Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.06 and a twelve month high of $49.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $46.65 and a 200-day moving average of $43.79. The stock has a market cap of $347.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.80.

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 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 business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. 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. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on BAC shares. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. HSBC lowered Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $51.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Robert W. Baird reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Friday, June 27th. TD Cowen started coverage on Bank of America in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $53.00 target price on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. One 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.com, the company currently has a consensus 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.