Bank of America Corporation $BAC Shares Purchased by Epoch Investment Partners Inc.

Key Points

• Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Bank of America Corporation by 0.4%, bringing its total shares to 2,137,852, valued at approximately $89 million.
• Bank of America has announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.28 per share, up from $0.26, representing an annualized yield of 2.3%.
• The board has authorized a $40 billion share buyback plan, indicating confidence in the stock's value amidst increased institutional investment interest.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,137,852 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 8,154 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $89,213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BAC. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Friday, June 27th. HSBC lowered Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 price target on Bank of America and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Baird R W lowered Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE:BAC traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $50.51. 32,938,437 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,147,900. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Bank of America Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.06 and a 52-week high of $50.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $374.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.73, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.31. The company's 50 day moving average price is $47.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.91.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America's payout ratio is presently 30.41%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback 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 buy up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership 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.