Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. Has $2.51 Million Stock Position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Key Points

• Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. has significantly reduced its stake in Bank of America by 94.1%, now holding 60,034 shares worth $2.5 million after selling 949,888 shares in the first quarter.
• Major institutional investors, including Capital World Investors and Price T Rowe Associates, have increased their holdings in Bank of America, demonstrating ongoing investor interest in the financial services provider.
• Bank of America plans to initiate a $40 billion stock buyback and has increased its quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.28 per share, reflecting positive financial performance and shareholder returns.

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. lessened its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 94.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 60,034 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 949,888 shares during the period. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $3,876,853,000 after buying an additional 17,031,143 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised 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 purchasing an additional 11,691,451 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised 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 purchasing an additional 9,980,859 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Bank of America by 39.6% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 33,152,004 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,457,031,000 after purchasing an additional 9,409,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 31.1% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 39,051,595 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,716,318,000 after buying an additional 9,258,040 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BAC shares. TD Cowen began 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 objective for the company. Hsbc Global Res cut Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Baird R W lowered Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 target price on Bank of America and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective 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. One equities 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.13.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE BAC traded down $0.34 during trading on Thursday, reaching $47.62. 17,537,570 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 42,829,426. Bank of America Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $33.06 and a fifty-two week high of $49.31. The firm has a market cap of $358.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.30. 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 50-day moving average price is $46.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.80.

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 net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict 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 will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.75%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.