ING Groep NV Decreases Stock Position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Key Points

• ING Groep NV reduced its stake in Bank of America by 5.1%, now holding approximately 6.5 million shares, which accounts for 1.9% of its portfolio.
• Bank of America recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.28 per share, with a yield of 2.5%, and a stock repurchase program allowing for a buyback of up to $40 billion.
• The company's latest earnings report showed an EPS of $0.89, exceeding analyst expectations, while revenue was reported at $22.27 billion, compared to estimates of $26.79 billion.

ING Groep NV lowered its position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,501,351 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 345,887 shares during the period. Bank of America comprises approximately 1.9% of ING Groep NV's holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. ING Groep NV owned 0.09% of Bank of America worth $271,301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 42.9% during the first quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 19,572 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $817,000 after buying an additional 5,877 shares during the last quarter. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Bank of America by 33.0% during the first quarter. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,188 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 1,782 shares in the last quarter. Allianz SE increased its holdings in Bank of America by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Allianz SE now owns 335,080 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,983,000 after acquiring an additional 9,836 shares during the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG increased its holdings in Bank of America by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 160,394 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,616,000 after acquiring an additional 25,362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avalon Trust Co lifted its stake in Bank of America by 285.3% in the 1st quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 6,624 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $45.65 on Monday. 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 stock's fifty day moving average is $46.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.77. Bank of America Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.06 and a 52 week high of $49.31. The company has a market capitalization of $338.13 billion, a PE ratio of 13.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.31.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The business's revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. This is an increase from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America's payout ratio is currently 30.41%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BAC shares. Argus reduced their target price on Bank of America from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Cfra Research lifted their price objective on Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Cowen began coverage on Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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.

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