Davis R M Inc. Purchases 74,661 Shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Key Points

• Davis R M Inc. has increased its stake in Bank of America by 12.9%, now owning 653,232 shares valued at approximately $27.26 million.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, reflecting a positive change from the previous $0.26 dividend.
• Bank of America is authorized to conduct a stock repurchase plan of up to $40 billion, indicating management's belief that its shares are undervalued.

Davis R M Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 12.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 653,232 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 74,661 shares during the quarter. Davis R M Inc.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $27,259,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BAC. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Bank of America by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,876,853,000 after purchasing an additional 17,031,143 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 122,437,422 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,381,126,000 after acquiring an additional 11,691,451 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,985,785,000 after acquiring an additional 9,980,859 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 39.6% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 33,152,004 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,457,031,000 after acquiring an additional 9,409,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 31.1% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 39,051,595 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,716,318,000 after acquiring an additional 9,258,040 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on BAC shares. Truist Financial raised their target price on Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Bank of America in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $53.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Bank of America from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. HSBC lowered Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their target price for the company from $47.00 to $51.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Argus cut their target price on Bank of America from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.13.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC stock traded down $0.68 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $47.28. 39,730,997 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 38,491,448. Bank of America Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.06 and a 1-year high of $49.31. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $356.10 billion, a PE ratio of 13.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.79 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share 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 $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. This is a positive change from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Bank of America's payout ratio is 30.41%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America 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.