Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. Decreases Holdings in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Bank of America by 49.3%, reducing its shares from 27,114 to 13,735 during the 2nd quarter, valued at approximately $650,000.
• Bank of America announced a $40 billion stock buyback plan and increased its quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.28 per share, effective September 26th.
• The company reported earnings of $0.89 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a net margin of 14.81% and a year-over-year revenue increase of 4.3%.

Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 49.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,735 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 13,379 shares during the quarter. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 121.0% during the 1st quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 62,041 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,589,000 after buying an additional 33,963 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 696,416 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,061,000 after purchasing an additional 50,296 shares during the period. Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 1st quarter worth about $998,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 37.2% in the 1st quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 65,038 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,714,000 after purchasing an additional 17,619 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 170.5% in the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 238,473 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,951,000 after purchasing an additional 150,299 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE BAC opened at $51.68 on Wednesday. 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 firm's 50 day moving average price is $48.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.68. Bank of America Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.06 and a 52-week high of $52.88. The company has a market cap of $382.78 billion, a PE ratio of 15.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.34.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are 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 paid 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 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Bank of America's payout ratio is 32.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Baird R W lowered shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. HSBC lowered shares of Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Bank of America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.76.

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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