Boston Trust Walden Corp Grows Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in Bank of America by 15.3%, owning a total of 48,606 shares valued at $2.3 million by the end of the last quarter.
• Bank of America reported Q3 earnings of $1.06 per share, exceeding estimates of $0.93, with revenue of $28.09 billion, up 10.8% from the previous year.
• The company announced a dividend increase from $0.26 to $0.28 per share, reflecting a 2.1% annual yield, along with a $40 billion stock buyback plan indicating confidence in its share valuation.

Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 15.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,606 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,444 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp's holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BAC. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 108,872 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,785,000 after acquiring an additional 25,143 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 8.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 111,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,654,000 after acquiring an additional 8,435 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 64.9% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 5,534 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 2,179 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 28.7% in the first quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 19,959 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $833,000 after acquiring an additional 4,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 22.2% in the first quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 1,515 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 4.3%

Shares of BAC opened at $52.26 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $387.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.28, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.67. Bank of America Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.06 and a twelve month high of $52.88.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $28.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $27.05 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.81 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. 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 dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.75%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on BAC. Robert W. Baird reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $54.64.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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