ERn Financial LLC Sells 17,276 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• ERn Financial LLC sold 17,276 shares of Bank of America, reducing its position by 79.7%, leaving it with 4,387 shares valued at $208,000.
• Deutsche Bank AG significantly increased its stake in Bank of America by 45.1%, acquiring an additional 14,960,086 shares during the first quarter.
• Bank of America announced a $40 billion share repurchase program, indicating confidence in its stock value, alongside a recent increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.28 per share.

ERn Financial LLC cut its position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 79.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,387 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 17,276 shares during the period. ERn Financial LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $208,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BAC. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 45.1% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,007,718,000 after acquiring an additional 14,960,086 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 4,414.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,654,022 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $194,212,000 after purchasing an additional 4,550,930 shares in the last quarter. Unisphere Establishment boosted its stake in Bank of America by 1,642.5% in the 1st quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 4,195,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $175,057,000 after purchasing an additional 3,954,250 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $164,623,000. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the first quarter valued at approximately $152,098,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BAC shares. 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. Baird R W cut shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.92.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $52.21 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $386.72 billion, a PE ratio of 15.27, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.34. The stock's fifty day moving average is $49.07 and its 200 day moving average is $44.97. Bank of America Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $33.06 and a fifty-two week high of $52.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.80.

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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $0.28 dividend. This is an increase from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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