Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $13 Million Position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Key Points

• Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its holdings in Bank of America by 13.3%, owning 311,403 shares valued at approximately $12.99 million after selling 47,604 shares in the first quarter.
• Bank of America reported $0.89 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates by $0.03, while its quarterly revenue increased by 4.3% year-over-year.
• The company announced a new quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, reflecting an increase from its previous dividend of $0.26, set to be paid on September 26th.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 13.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 311,403 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 47,604 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Bank of America were worth $12,995,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc increased its position in Bank of America by 53.0% during the fourth quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 797 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company's 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. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock traded up $1.11 on Friday, reaching $46.03. 37,117,565 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 37,639,604. The firm's 50 day moving average is $46.43 and its 200-day moving average is $43.77. Bank of America Corporation has a one year low of $33.06 and a one year high of $49.31. 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 firm has a market cap of $340.94 billion, a PE ratio of 13.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.31.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a boost from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Bank of America's payout ratio is currently 30.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BAC shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group upped their target price on Bank of America from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.13.

Bank of America 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.