Swedbank AB Raises Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Swedbank AB increased its stake in Bank of America by 5.4% in the first quarter, adding 644,103 shares and bringing its total holdings to 12.48 million shares worth about $608.6 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with UBS and Wells Fargo both raising price targets, and the stock carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with a $62.19 average target.
• Bank of America recently reported strong results, beating earnings and revenue estimates for the quarter, while also paying a $0.28 quarterly dividend that implies a 1.9% yield.

Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 5.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,484,428 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 644,103 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned about 0.17% of Bank of America worth $608,616,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BAC. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Legacy Bridge LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 182.3% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Bridge LLC now owns 511 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. CrossGen Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Bank of America this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS Group AG raised its price target on Bank of America (BAC) to $68 from $63 and reiterated a Buy rating, signaling confidence in further upside. Benzinga
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo & Company issued a positive forecast for Bank of America (BAC) and lifted its price target to $67, reinforcing a constructive view ahead of earnings. American Banking News
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America is nearing its earnings release, and expectations have been rising alongside the broader bank-stock rally, which may support sentiment if results come in strong. American Banking News
• Neutral Sentiment: News that major U.S. banks may explore acquiring Fiserv’s debit card network includes Bank of America (BAC), but the talks are preliminary and no deal has been announced. Reuters
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary frames BAC as overvalued or “fundamentally challenged,” which could temper enthusiasm if investors begin to focus more on valuation than momentum. Yahoo Finance

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In related news, insider Geoffrey S. Greener sold 126,756 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.01, for a total transaction of $6,719,335.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,373,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $72,803,774.97. This represents a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. HSBC upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Bank of America from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $62.19.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC traded up $0.35 on Tuesday, hitting $60.25. 10,285,700 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 38,946,027. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $53.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Bank of America Corporation has a one year low of $44.75 and a one year high of $60.83. The firm has a market cap of $427.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.17.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.11. Bank of America had a return on equity of 11.49% and a net margin of 16.78%.The business had revenue of $30.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 4.49 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Bank of America's payout ratio is 27.72%.

Bank of America Company Profile

Bank of America Corporation is a multinational financial services company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It provides a broad array of banking, investment, asset management and related financial and risk management products and services to individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses, large corporations, governments and institutional investors. The firm operates through consumer banking, global wealth and investment management, global banking and markets businesses, offering capabilities across lending, deposits, payments, advisory and capital markets.

Its consumer-facing offerings include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, home equity lending, auto loans, credit cards and small business banking, supported by a nationwide branch network and digital channels.

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