MetLife Investment Management LLC Lowers Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• MetLife Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Bank of America by 2.6%, owning 1.72 million shares valued at approximately $71.8 million after selling 46,089 shares.
• Hedge funds and institutional investors together hold 70.71% of Bank of America’s stock, indicating strong market interest from larger investment entities.
• Bank of America recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.28 per share and initiated a share buyback program of $40 billion, signaling management's confidence in the company's valuation.

MetLife Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,720,517 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 46,089 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $71,797,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 17.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 9,980,859 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 60,417,407 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,521,218,000 after acquiring an additional 803,570 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 45.1% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,007,718,000 after acquiring an additional 14,960,086 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 12.7% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 5,092,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 31.1% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 9,258,040 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BAC shares. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Phillip Securities cut Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of Bank of America 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 directly owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC opened at $49.4850 on Friday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $47.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Bank of America Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.06 and a 1 year high of $49.66. The firm has a market cap of $366.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.47, a PEG ratio of 1.92 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%.The business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. Bank of America's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is 30.41%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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