Northern Trust Corp Sells 660,450 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp sold 660,450 shares of Bank of America, decreasing its holdings by 1% and leaving it with approximately 67.3 million shares valued at $2.81 billion.
• Bank of America has initiated a stock repurchase plan allowing the firm to buy back up to $40 billion of its own shares, indicating a belief that its stock is currently undervalued.
• The financial services provider has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, reflecting an increase from the previous dividend of $0.26, and representing an annual yield of 2.4%.

Northern Trust Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 67,275,490 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 660,450 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 0.89% of Bank of America worth $2,807,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BAC. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. grew its stake in Bank of America by 121.0% in the first quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 62,041 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,589,000 after purchasing an additional 33,963 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 7.8% in the first quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 696,416 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,061,000 after purchasing an additional 50,296 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Bank of America in the first quarter worth approximately $998,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 37.2% in the first quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 65,038 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,714,000 after purchasing an additional 17,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 170.5% in the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 238,473 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,951,000 after purchasing an additional 150,299 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $46.91 on Monday. Bank of America Corporation has a 12 month low of $33.06 and a 12 month high of $49.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $46.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $347.46 billion, a PE ratio of 13.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.31.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America's payout ratio is currently 30.41%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird restated a "neutral" rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a report on Friday, June 27th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, HSBC lowered Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.13.

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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