Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Has $175.98 Million Stock Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec reduced its holdings in Bank of America by 18.0% during the first quarter, ending with a position worth approximately $175.98 million.
• Bank of America recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.28 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 2.3%.
• Analysts show a mixed outlook on Bank of America, with 17 Buy ratings and 5 Hold ratings, along with an average price target of $50.13.

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec reduced its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 18.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,217,071 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 926,887 shares during the quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned 0.06% of Bank of America worth $175,978,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of Hawaii acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the first quarter valued at about $544,000. Old West Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 232.9% during the first quarter. Old West Investment Management LLC now owns 71,334 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,977,000 after purchasing an additional 49,908 shares in the last quarter. Ally Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 226.1% during the first quarter. Ally Financial Inc. now owns 150,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,260,000 after purchasing an additional 104,000 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 4.0% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 89,193 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,722,000 after purchasing an additional 3,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 11.5% during the first quarter. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,817 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,013 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BAC. HSBC lowered shares of Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price target for the company from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Robert W. Baird reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Cowen began coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $53.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, 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. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 223,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. The trade was 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 accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC opened at $49.4850 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $366.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.47, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.31. 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 50-day moving average price of $47.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.81. Bank of America Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.06 and a twelve month high of $49.66.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is an increase from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.75%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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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