Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd Invests $1.46 Million in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd has invested approximately $1.46 million in Bank of America by purchasing 30,759 shares in the second quarter.
• Bank of America has announced a $40 billion stock buyback program, allowing it to repurchase up to 11.1% of its shares, indicating the board's belief that the shares are undervalued.
• Recent analyst upgrades have set a new average target price for Bank of America at $54.64, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from 21 analysts.

Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 30,759 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,456,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BAC. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 4.4% during the second quarter. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 5,126 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $243,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.8% during the second quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 28,394 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,344,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the period. Centurion Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 2.3% during the second quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,862 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $467,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Nova Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 75.2% during the second quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 529 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the period. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.9% during the first quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 12,567 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $524,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $48.62 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $360.12 billion, a PE ratio of 14.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.33. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $49.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.52. Bank of America Corporation has a 12-month low of $33.06 and a 12-month high of $52.88.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. The business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a boost from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is 32.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BAC shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $54.64.

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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