Ignite Planners LLC Increases Stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Ignite Planners LLC increased its position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 46.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,474 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,733 shares during the period. Ignite Planners LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $983,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 142,289,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,243,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033,229 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Bank of America by 10.6% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 11,691,451 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,226,989,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Bank of America by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,876,853,000 after acquiring an additional 17,031,143 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Bank of America by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,985,785,000 after acquiring an additional 9,980,859 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE:BAC traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $48.46. 28,093,033 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 43,388,250. 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 Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.06 and a 1 year high of $49.31. The company has a market cap of $364.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $45.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.72.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase 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 generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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. 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 yield of 2.31%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on BAC. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Cfra Research upped their target price on shares of Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 target price on shares of Bank of America and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. HSBC cut shares of Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their target price for the company from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.03.

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.