Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV Purchases New Holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Key Points

• Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV purchased 6,117 shares of Bank of America Corporation valued at approximately $255,000 in Q1, indicating institutional interest in the financial services firm.
• Bank of America announced a new $40 billion stock buyback program, suggesting confidence in its stock value amidst current market conditions.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.28 per share, reflecting a positive shift in its dividend policy and a payout ratio of 30.41%.

Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV acquired a new position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,117 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $255,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc raised its holdings in Bank of America by 53.0% during the fourth quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 797 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Cfra Research boosted their price objective on Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Bank of America from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total value of $6,762,177.87. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Bank of America Trading Down 1.2%

BAC stock traded down $0.55 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $44.87. The stock had a trading volume of 30,604,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,320,360. The firm has a market cap of $332.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $46.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Bank of America Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.06 and a 1-year high of $49.31.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%. The business's revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 2.5%. This is a positive change from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.41%.

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.