Howe & Rusling Inc. Buys 59,712 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Howe & Rusling Inc. has increased its stake in Bank of America Corporation by 30.3% in the first quarter, now owning 256,534 shares valued at approximately $10.71 million.
• Several large investors have also increased their positions in Bank of America, with institutional investors and hedge funds owning 70.71% of the company’s stock.
• Bank of America has raised its quarterly dividend to $0.28 per share, a notable increase from the previous dividend of $0.26, reflecting a positive outlook from its Board of Directors.

Howe & Rusling Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 30.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 256,534 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 59,712 shares during the period. Howe & Rusling Inc.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $10,705,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BAC. Citigroup increased 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. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 price target on shares of Bank of America and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of BAC traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $50.60. 27,849,333 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,238,896. The company has a market cap of $374.79 billion, a PE ratio of 14.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.34. 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 Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.06 and a 52 week high of $50.96. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.28.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%.The business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. 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 yield of 2.2%. Bank of America's payout ratio is presently 32.75%.

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

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.