Gradient Investments LLC Has $31.87 Million Stock Holdings in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Gradient Investments LLC reduced its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 3.3%, now holding approximately $31.87 million worth of shares after selling 22,915 shares in the second quarter.
• Bank of America has announced a dividend increase to $0.28 per share while also initiating a $40 billion share buyback plan, reflecting confidence in its stock value.
• Analysts have varying ratings for the stock, with a consensus average target price of $50.39; 16 analysts rated it as a Buy and 5 as a Hold.

Gradient Investments LLC lessened its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 673,501 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 22,915 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $31,870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nova Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Bank of America by 75.2% during the second quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 529 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BAC shares. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bank of America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.39.

Insider Activity

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 223,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of BAC stock opened at $50.60 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $374.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.34. Bank of America Corporation has a one year low of $33.06 and a one year high of $50.96. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $48.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.28. 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 (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%.Bank of America's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This is a boost from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.75%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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