Enterprise Financial Services Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Enterprise Financial Services Corp reduced its stake in Bank of America by 29.5%, holding 15,427 shares worth $644,000 after selling 6,457 shares during the first quarter.
• Bank of America recently reported $0.89 earnings per share for the last quarter, which exceeded analyst expectations, with a revenue increase of 4.3% year-over-year.
• The company approved a $40 billion share buyback program, signifying a belief that its shares are undervalued, alongside increasing its quarterly dividend to $0.28 per share.

Enterprise Financial Services Corp reduced its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 29.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,427 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,457 shares during the quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp's holdings in Bank of America were worth $644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 16,707 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $734,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 20,620 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $906,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Maia Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 17,334 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $723,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Northern Financial Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Bank of America by 1.8% in the first quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc now owns 14,383 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $600,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust increased its position in Bank of America by 1.4% in the first quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 18,053 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $832,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Baird R W downgraded Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 price target on Bank of America and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.13.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE:BAC traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $50.43. 42,380,646 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 42,045,879. Bank of America Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.06 and a 52 week high of $50.63. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $47.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.87. 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 market cap of $373.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is an increase from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is 30.41%.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total value of $6,762,177.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.