Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Grows Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 11.7%, bringing its total holdings to 198,618 shares worth approximately $9.4 million.
• Bank of America recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.28, indicating a confident outlook with a current dividend yield of 2.2%.
• Analysts have generally rated Bank of America positively, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.61, reflecting expectations for future performance.

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 11.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 198,618 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 20,821 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $9,399,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Centurion Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,862 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Nova Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 75.2% during the 2nd quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 529 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 16,707 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $734,000 after buying an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 12,567 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $524,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 20,620 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $906,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BAC. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. HSBC lowered shares of Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $51.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.61.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.2%

BAC stock opened at $50.68 on Wednesday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $48.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.36. The company has a market capitalization of $375.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.34. 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 12 month low of $33.06 and a 12 month high of $51.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. The business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for 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%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This is an increase 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Bank of America's payout ratio is currently 32.75%.

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

Insider Activity at Bank of America

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

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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