Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Purchases 52,700 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• The Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in Bank of America Corporation by 1.9%, acquiring an additional 52,700 shares and bringing its total ownership to approximately $134 million.
• Bank of America announced a new share repurchase program authorizing the buyback of up to $40 billion in shares, representing about 11.1% of its shares, indicating confidence in the stock's value.
• The company has increased its quarterly dividend to $0.28, up from $0.26, reflecting a 2.2% yield for shareholders, with a dividend payout ratio of 32.75%.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,832,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 52,700 shares during the quarter. Bank of America accounts for approximately 0.5% of Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Bank of America were worth $134,052,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EWG Elevate Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the second quarter valued at about $234,000. Lynch & Associates IN raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.9% in the second quarter. Lynch & Associates IN now owns 144,784 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,851,000 after acquiring an additional 1,345 shares in the last quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 10.4% in the second quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC now owns 9,281 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $439,000 after acquiring an additional 873 shares in the last quarter. IMS Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the second quarter valued at about $2,045,000. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.0% in the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 155,875 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,376,000 after acquiring an additional 4,536 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,180,656.99. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bank of America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, HSBC lowered Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.76.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE BAC opened at $51.68 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $48.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.68. Bank of America Corporation has a one year low of $33.06 and a one year high of $52.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $382.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.34.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last posted 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase 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 repurchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.75%.

About Bank of America

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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