Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) Stock Holdings Lessened by Heritage Trust Co

Key Points

• Heritage Trust Co reduced its stake in Bank of America by 8.5%, selling 7,695 shares to hold 82,902 shares worth approximately $3.46 million.
• Bank of America has recently approved a $40 billion stock buyback plan, indicating confidence from the board that the shares are undervalued.
• The company will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share starting September 26th, a slight increase from the previous quarterly dividend of $0.26.

Heritage Trust Co decreased its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 8.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,902 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 7,695 shares during the period. Heritage Trust Co's holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,459,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 122,437,422 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,381,126,000 after buying an additional 11,691,451 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Bank of America by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,876,853,000 after purchasing an additional 17,031,143 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Bank of America by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,985,785,000 after purchasing an additional 9,980,859 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 803,570 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 12.7% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 5,092,504 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BAC. Cfra Research upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $53.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial upped their price target 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. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total transaction of $6,762,177.87. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares in the company, 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 this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of BAC traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $45.83. The stock had a trading volume of 31,031,291 shares, compared to its average volume of 42,026,776. Bank of America Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.06 and a 1-year high of $49.31. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $46.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.77. The company has a market cap of $339.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.40, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.31. 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 announced its quarterly 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. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. Bank of America's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Bank of America's payout ratio is presently 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.

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.