Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Tredje AP fonden

Tredje AP fonden lessened its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 21.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,576,005 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 434,797 shares during the period. Tredje AP fonden's holdings in Bank of America were worth $65,767,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of BAC. Eastern Bank lifted its stake in Bank of America by 20.1% during the 1st quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,363,308 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $56,891,000 after acquiring an additional 227,749 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc raised its position in Bank of America by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 295,499 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,331,000 after purchasing an additional 14,368 shares in the last quarter. Brucke Financial Inc. raised its position in Bank of America by 34.7% in the 1st quarter. Brucke Financial Inc. now owns 17,834 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $711,000 after purchasing an additional 4,592 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the 1st quarter valued at about $351,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its position in Bank of America by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 35,831 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,496,000 after purchasing an additional 2,906 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC stock traded down $1.62 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $45.65. The company had a trading volume of 52,302,792 shares, compared to its average volume of 43,048,586. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $46.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.81. Bank of America Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.06 and a 52-week high of $49.31. The stock has a market cap of $343.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.35, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

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 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 period last year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. The company's revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan 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 repurchase up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. HSBC lowered Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price target for the company from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Bank of America from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Phillip Securities downgraded Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.13.

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.