Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. Invests $240,000 in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased 5,131 shares of Bank of America, valued at approximately $240,000, in the 2nd quarter as part of recent institutional investment activity.
• Bank of America has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.28, reflecting a positive change from their previous quarterly dividend of $0.26.
• Several analysts have updated their ratings and price targets for Bank of America, with Oppenheimer increasing its target from $55.00 to $57.00 while HSBC lowered its rating from "buy" to "hold."

Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 5,131 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $240,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.3% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 60,417,407 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,521,218,000 after purchasing an additional 803,570 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 45.1% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,007,718,000 after purchasing an additional 14,960,086 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 3.7% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 39,233,293 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,637,205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,413,313 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 31,956,699 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,333,351,000 after acquiring an additional 188,638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its stake in Bank of America by 2.4% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 12,970,274 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $541,250,000 after acquiring an additional 300,944 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the business's 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 $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock traded down $0.22 during trading on Monday, reaching $52.03. 27,332,974 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 37,902,632. The company has a market capitalization of $385.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.34. Bank of America Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.06 and a 52-week high of $52.66. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.63. 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 (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 during 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 quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is 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 given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BAC. Wall Street Zen raised Bank of America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Oppenheimer increased 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 Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $51.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.82.

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.