SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC Sells 10,450 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Bank of America by 27.6%, now holding 27,395 shares valued at approximately $1.30 million.
• Bank of America recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.28, representing a yield of 2.1%.
• The company has announced a $40 billion share buyback plan, indicating confidence in the valuation of its shares.

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 27.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,395 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 10,450 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,296,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Bell Bank boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 15.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bell Bank now owns 20,117 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $952,000 after acquiring an additional 2,747 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 49.7% in the second quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 821,965 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,895,000 after purchasing an additional 272,950 shares during the last quarter. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. grew its holdings in Bank of America by 6.0% during the second quarter. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. now owns 6,223 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter valued at approximately $164,623,000. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 8.8% in the second quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 1,402,856 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $66,383,000 after acquiring an additional 113,214 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.6%

BAC stock traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $51.62. 13,290,118 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 41,619,039. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $48.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.63. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $382.31 billion, a PE ratio of 15.10, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.34. Bank of America Corporation has a one year low of $33.06 and a one year high of $52.88.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research 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 program on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total transaction of $6,762,177.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on BAC. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Bank of America from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised Bank of America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. HSBC cut Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their target price for the company from $47.00 to $51.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Baird R W cut Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.76.

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.