SageView Advisory Group LLC Purchases 6,203 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America Corporation by 8.9% in Q1, acquiring an additional 6,203 shares, bringing their total to 76,186 shares valued at $3,179,000.
• In a recent wave of analyst reviews, Bank of America received multiple downgrades, with ratings shifting from "strong-buy" to "sell," while Oppenheimer raised its price target to $57.00.
• Bank of America declared a dividend increase to $0.28 per share, representing a yield of 2.2%, and announced a $40 billion stock buyback plan indicating confidence in their market position.

SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 8.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 76,186 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 6,203 shares during the quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,179,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Advisory Alpha LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 12.3% during the first quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 32,021 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,336,000 after buying an additional 3,506 shares in the last quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. boosted its position in Bank of America by 5.7% during the first quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. now owns 49,175 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,052,000 after purchasing an additional 2,641 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in Bank of America by 39.5% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 559,414 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $23,344,000 after purchasing an additional 158,528 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 3.6% in the first quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 20,995 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $876,000 after purchasing an additional 723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 13.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 296,840 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,387,000 after purchasing an additional 34,146 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Phillip Securities downgraded Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.39.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the business'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 in the company, valued at $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $50.28 on Wednesday. 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 12 month low of $33.06 and a 12 month high of $50.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $48.03 and a 200-day moving average of $44.15. The company has a market capitalization of $372.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.34.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company 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 previous year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This is a boost from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.75%.

Bank of America announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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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