Columbia Asset Management Decreases Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Columbia Asset Management reduced its position in Bank of America by 56.8%, selling 25,746 shares, which left the firm with 19,595 shares valued at approximately $927,000.
• Other institutional investors, such as Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC and Nova Wealth Management, have increased their stakes in Bank of America, indicating a mixed sentiment among investors.
• Bank of America has initiated a $40 billion share buyback program and increased its quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.28, reflecting confidence in its financial health.

Columbia Asset Management cut its position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 56.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 19,595 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 25,746 shares during the period. Columbia Asset Management's holdings in Bank of America were worth $927,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 4.4% in the second quarter. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 5,126 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 2.3% during the second quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,862 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $467,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Bank of America by 75.2% during the second quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 529 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its position in Bank of America by 1.9% during the first quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 12,567 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rainier Family Wealth Inc. lifted its position in Bank of America by 3.9% during the second quarter. Rainier Family Wealth Inc. now owns 6,396 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider owned 223,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BAC shares. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. HSBC downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Bank of America from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Robert W. Baird restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 price target on shares of Bank of America and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $52.63.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $51.58 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $382.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $49.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.09. Bank of America Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.06 and a 1-year high of $52.88.

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

Bank of America announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This is a boost from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America's payout ratio is presently 32.75%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BAC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.