State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Has $96.55 Million Stake in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D has reduced its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 10.5%, selling 270,097 shares in the first quarter, leaving them with a total of approximately $96.55 million in shares.
• Bank of America has officially announced a $40 billion share repurchase plan, signaling the board's belief that the company's shares may be undervalued.
• The financial giant has increased its quarterly dividend from $0.26 to $0.28 per share, representing an annualized dividend payout of $1.12 with a yield of 2.3%.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 10.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,313,761 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 270,097 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Bank of America were worth $96,553,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 108,872 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,785,000 after purchasing an additional 25,143 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 35.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 860,005 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,797,000 after purchasing an additional 226,246 shares in the last quarter. MSH Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $631,000. Salzhauer Michael increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 27.5% during the 4th quarter. Salzhauer Michael now owns 1,752,003 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $77,001,000 after purchasing an additional 377,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $88,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Bank of America stock traded up $0.98 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $47.92. The company had a trading volume of 42,700,344 shares, compared to its average volume of 42,186,910. The company has a 50 day moving average of $46.69 and a 200-day moving average of $43.75. The firm has a market cap of $354.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.01, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.31. Bank of America Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.06 and a 52 week high of $49.31. 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 (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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders 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 is an increase 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 2.3%. Bank of America's payout ratio is presently 30.41%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on BAC shares. Baird R W cut shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $53.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Robert W. Baird reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $6,762,177.87. Following the sale, the insider 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.