Bank of America Corporation $BAC Shares Bought by Level Four Advisory Services LLC

Key Points

• Level Four Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 3.9%, now owning 173,941 shares valued at approximately $7.26 million.
• Bank of America recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.28, an increase from the previous $0.26, representing an annualized yield of 2.3%.
• Several analysts have downgraded or adjusted their price targets for Bank of America, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.13.

Level Four Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 3.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 173,941 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,475 shares during the period. Level Four Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $7,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total value of $6,762,177.87. Following the sale, the insider owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on BAC. HSBC lowered shares of Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $53.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Phillip Securities lowered Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.13.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock traded down $0.1150 during trading on Thursday, hitting $48.2350. 28,706,786 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 32,895,712. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.84. Bank of America Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.06 and a 52-week high of $49.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $357.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.10, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.31.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. The company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for 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 firm's revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. This is a positive change from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is 30.41%.

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.