GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. Purchases Shares of 18,940 Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. acquired 18,940 shares of Bank of America, valued at approximately $790,000, during Q1 2023.
• The company's quarterly dividend will increase from $0.26 to $0.28 per share, reflecting a yield of 2.2% and a payout ratio of 30.41%.
• Bank of America has also authorized a $40 billion stock buyback, which indicates management's belief that the shares are undervalued.

GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. purchased a new position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 18,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $790,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BAC. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.3% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 60,417,407 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,521,218,000 after acquiring an additional 803,570 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 14,960,086 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 45,092,517 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,981,816,000 after acquiring an additional 5,092,504 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in Bank of America by 31.1% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 39,051,595 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,716,318,000 after acquiring an additional 9,258,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Bank of America by 0.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 31,956,699 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,333,351,000 after acquiring an additional 188,638 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a report on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Baird R W downgraded Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Sixteen equities research 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 company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.39.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC traded up $0.58 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $50.64. The company had a trading volume of 34,453,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,896,773. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $47.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $375.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.81, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.34. Bank of America Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.06 and a 52-week high of $50.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

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 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 company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. Bank of America's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect 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. 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 represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America's payout ratio is 30.41%.

Bank of America announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In related 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. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.