Focus Financial Network Inc. Purchases 12,565 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Focus Financial Network increased its Bank of America stake by 24.8% in the third quarter, purchasing 12,565 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 63,157 shares valued at approximately $3.44 million.
• Institutional investors own 70.71% of Bank of America, while analysts maintain a generally positive outlook: 19 rate the stock Buy and seven Hold, with a consensus price target of $64.22.
• Bank of America reported quarterly EPS of $1.08 and revenue of $29.96 billion, missing analyst estimates, but raised its quarterly dividend to $0.32 per share, equivalent to a 2.5% annual yield.

Focus Financial Network Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 24.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,157 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,565 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter valued at $2,571,060,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the second quarter worth about $2,359,172,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Bank of America in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,313,953,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Bank of America during the second quarter valued at $939,807,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth about $916,398,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Bank of America from $68.00 to $62.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. HSBC began coverage on shares of Bank of America in a report on Monday, September 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Bank of America from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Bank of America from $70.00 to $67.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 5th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $64.22.

Trending Headlines about Bank of America

Here are the key news stories impacting Bank of America this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Underlying banking activity remained healthy: net interest income increased 8% year over year to $16.4 billion, consumer banking revenue rose 4%, wealth-management revenue climbed 13%, average loans grew 6%, and deposits increased 2%. The bank also returned $8.3 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. Bank of America Reports Third-Quarter Results
• Positive Sentiment: Some market commentary argued that the selloff could create a long-term buying opportunity, while options activity and a reported institutional purchase of long-dated BAC call options pointed to bullish interest among some investors. Unusual Long-Dated BAC Call Options
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Brian Moynihan said Bank of America is addressing regulatory requirements and expects elevated remediation and software-patching expenses to decline over time. The bank hired about 1,000 contractors to help fix software vulnerabilities identified through Anthropic’s Mythos testing. Bank of America Software-Patching Costs
• Negative Sentiment: Adjusted EPS was $1.08 versus the $1.10 consensus, while revenue of roughly $30.0 billion missed estimates near $30.6 billion. Reported net income fell 17% to $6.9 billion, or $0.91 per share, after the regulatory charge. Bank of America Earnings Miss
• Negative Sentiment: Regulators imposed approximately $1.21 billion in penalties over anti-money-laundering, Bank Secrecy Act, and sanctions-compliance failures, including failures to timely report more than $5 billion in suspicious transactions. The non-tax-deductible charge reduced quarterly earnings by about $0.17 per share and intensified concerns that compliance problems may persist. Bank of America Regulatory Penalties
• Negative Sentiment: Expenses rose faster than revenue, pushing the adjusted efficiency ratio to about 62% from 60%. Bond-trading revenue fell 17%, investment-banking and trading results disappointed, and provisions for credit losses reached $1.3 billion. Hotter-than-expected inflation and several shareholder-law-firm investigations added to the cautious backdrop.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $51.40 on Thursday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $59.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $359.45 billion, a PE ratio of 11.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.21. Bank of America Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $46.12 and a fifty-two week high of $65.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $29.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.58 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 17.56% and a return on equity of 12.20%. Bank of America's revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.06 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 4.60 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This is a boost from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.36%.

About Bank of America

Bank of America Corporation NYSE: BAC is a diversified financial services company serving individual consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies and large corporations. Its principal businesses include consumer banking, wealth and investment management, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and sales and trading.

Through its banking and financial services businesses, the company offers deposit accounts, credit cards, mortgages, home equity products, consumer and business loans, payment services, treasury management, brokerage services and investment advice.

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