Pacer Advisors Inc. Trims Position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Bank of America by 39.1%, selling 343,099 shares and ending the first quarter with 533,685 shares valued at $22.27 million.
• The company announced a new $40 billion share buyback program to repurchase approximately 11.1% of its outstanding shares, signaling confidence in its stock value.
• Bank of America increased its quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.28, representing a 2.31% dividend yield, with an ex-dividend date of September 5th.

Pacer Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 39.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 533,685 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 343,099 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $22,271,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Capital World Investors increased its position in Bank of America by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,876,853,000 after purchasing an additional 17,031,143 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Bank of America by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 122,437,422 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,381,126,000 after purchasing an additional 11,691,451 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 17.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 9,980,859 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 39.6% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 33,152,004 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,457,031,000 after acquiring an additional 9,409,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position 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 worth $1,716,318,000 after acquiring an additional 9,258,040 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC stock opened at $48.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $365.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.30. 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 $49.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $45.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.75.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 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 often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $0.28 dividend. This is an increase from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BAC. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. HSBC lowered shares of Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Cfra Research increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.03.

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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