Parnassus Investments LLC Sells 902,648 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Parnassus Investments LLC sold 902,648 shares of Bank of America, reducing its stake in the bank by 4.3%, with the remaining shares valued at approximately $846 million.
• Bank of America has announced a $40 billion share buyback program and increased its quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.28 per share, reflecting confidence in its stock valuation.
• Analysts give Bank of America a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy", with a price target averaging around $50.13 based on multiple brokerage reports.

Parnassus Investments LLC decreased its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 4.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 20,279,859 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 902,648 shares during the period. Bank of America accounts for about 2.0% of Parnassus Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Parnassus Investments LLC owned about 0.27% of Bank of America worth $846,279,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Vega Investment Solutions bought a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the first quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $50.51 on Friday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $47.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.94. 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 capitalization of $374.11 billion, a PE ratio of 14.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.31. Bank of America Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.06 and a 1-year high of $50.64.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. The business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. As a group, analysts expect 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 approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally 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 issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a boost 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Bank of America's payout ratio is currently 30.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 223,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on BAC. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $53.00 price objective on the stock. 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 research report on Thursday, June 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 price target on shares of Bank of America and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. HSBC lowered shares of Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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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