St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC Buys Shares of 57,956 Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC purchased 57,956 shares of Bank of America, valued at approximately $2.74 million, making it the firm's 15th largest holding.
• Bank of America announced a $40 billion stock buyback program and increased its quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.28 per share.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Bank of America, with an average price target of $50.39, as several brokerages have raised their price objectives recently.

St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 57,956 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,743,000. Bank of America comprises about 2.1% of St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.3% during the 1st 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 buying an additional 803,570 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 45.1% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,007,718,000 after buying an additional 14,960,086 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 45,092,517 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,981,816,000 after purchasing an additional 5,092,504 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in Bank of America by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 39,233,293 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,637,205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,413,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in 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 valued at $1,333,351,000 after purchasing an additional 188,638 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related 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 transaction of $6,762,177.87. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE BAC opened at $50.60 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Bank of America Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.06 and a twelve month high of $51.09. The company has a market cap of $374.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.34. The business's fifty day moving average is $48.17 and its 200 day moving average is $44.31.

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 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. Bank of America's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 purchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business 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 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 32.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on BAC. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird restated a "neutral" rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Phillip Securities downgraded Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.39.

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.

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