Martingale Asset Management L P Lowers Stock Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Martingale Asset Management L P has reduced its stake in Bank of America Corporation by 27.4% in the first quarter, owning 159,396 shares after selling 60,280 shares.
• Several hedge funds increased their positions in Bank of America, with Northern Trust Corp boosting its stake by 17.2% and Deutsche Bank AG increasing by 45.1% during the same period.
• Bank of America announced a new stock repurchase plan worth $40 billion and increased its quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.28, reflecting confidence in its financial position.

Martingale Asset Management L P lessened its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 27.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 159,396 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 60,280 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P's holdings in Bank of America were worth $6,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Bank of America by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,985,785,000 after buying an additional 9,980,859 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Bank of America by 1.3% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 60,417,407 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,521,218,000 after buying an additional 803,570 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in Bank of America by 45.1% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,007,718,000 after buying an additional 14,960,086 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 45,092,517 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,981,816,000 after purchasing an additional 5,092,504 shares during the period. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 31.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 9,258,040 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total value of $6,762,177.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on BAC shares. Robert W. Baird reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.13.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.2%

BAC stock opened at $48.2350 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Bank of America Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.06 and a twelve month high of $49.31. The company's 50 day moving average is $46.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.84. The stock has a market cap of $357.27 billion, a P/E 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. The company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire 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 shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $0.28 dividend. This is a positive change from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Bank of America's payout ratio is currently 32.75%.

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.

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