Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 53,653 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Bank of America by 40.5% during the second quarter, selling 53,653 shares and bringing its total holdings to 78,819 shares valued at approximately $3.73 million.
• Bank of America's quarterly dividend was increased to $0.28 per share, representing an annual yield of 2.2%, following a decision by its Board of Directors to boost the payout from the previous quarter's $0.26.
• Several analysts have expressed optimism regarding Bank of America's stock, with Morgan Stanley raising its price target from $50 to $66, indicating a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" among analysts.

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 40.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,819 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 53,653 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,730,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nova Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Bank of America by 75.2% during the 2nd quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 529 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. HighMark Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 233.6% in the 1st quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,061 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 37.1% in the 1st quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird restated a "neutral" rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $53.38.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $50.36 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $373.01 billion, a PE ratio of 14.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.06 and a 52-week high of $52.88.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is a boost from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. Bank of America's payout ratio is presently 32.75%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This trade represents 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. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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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