MBL Wealth LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• MBL Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America (BAC) by 39.6%, now owning 23,342 shares valued at approximately $974,000.
• Bank of America recently declared an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.28 per share and announced a $40 billion stock repurchase program, indicating confidence in its stock valuation.
• Despite multiple downgrades by analysts, the stock maintains an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target price of $50.39.

MBL Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 39.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 23,342 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,616 shares during the period. MBL Wealth LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $974,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BAC. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 target price on shares of Bank of America and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the business'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 sale, the insider owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their position. The sale 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 insiders.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $50.47 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $373.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.34. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $48.03 and a 200 day moving average of $44.15. Bank of America Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $33.06 and a fifty-two week high of $50.92.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. The company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. Bank of America's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This is an increase from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.75%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program 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 reacquire up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are 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.

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