Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC acquired an additional 6,128 shares of Bank of America, increasing its ownership to 149,644 shares valued at $6,245,000.
• Bank of America announced a raise in its quarterly dividend to $0.28 per share, implying an annualized dividend of $1.12 and a yield of 2.4%, effective on September 26th.
• The company has also approved a $40 billion stock buyback plan, allowing for repurchase of up to 11.1% of its stock, signaling confidence in its valuation.

Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 149,644 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,128 shares during the quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $6,245,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE BAC traded up $0.2850 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $48.3650. The company's stock had a trading volume of 30,817,425 shares, compared to its average volume of 32,923,604. The firm has a market capitalization of $358.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.14, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.31. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $46.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.82. 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 Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.06 and a twelve month high of $49.31.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for 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 was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America's payout ratio is 30.41%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BAC. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Phillip Securities downgraded Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. HSBC lowered Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their target price for the company from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.13.

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 sale, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

About Bank of America

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.