GSG Advisors LLC Takes Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• GSG Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America Corporation during the 2nd quarter, purchasing 5,163 shares valued at approximately $244,000.
• Insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of Bank of America at an average price of $45.57, decreasing their ownership by nearly 40%.
• Bank of America announced a new share repurchase program worth $40 billion and increased its quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.28, signaling confidence in its stock valuation.

GSG Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 5,163 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 108,872 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,785,000 after purchasing an additional 25,143 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its stake in Bank of America by 35.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 860,005 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,797,000 after purchasing an additional 226,246 shares in the last quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP increased its stake in Bank of America by 83.8% during the 4th quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 10,333 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 4,711 shares in the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at $1,644,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI increased its stake in Bank of America by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 3,544,508 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $155,781,000 after purchasing an additional 692,054 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total value of $6,762,177.87. Following the sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bank of America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.61.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE BAC opened at $50.68 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $375.38 billion, a PE ratio of 14.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.34. Bank of America Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.06 and a 52 week high of $51.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $48.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.36.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. The business 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 company's revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program 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 purchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. 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. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Bank of America's 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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