Unisphere Establishment Increases Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Unisphere Establishment significantly increased its stake in Bank of America by 1,642.5%, acquiring an additional 3,954,250 shares, bringing its total to 4,195,000 shares.
• Bank of America declared a quarterly dividend increase from $0.26 to $0.28 per share, representing an annual yield of 2.2%.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic about Bank of America, with 17 giving it a "Buy" rating and a raised price target, now averaging around $50.13.

Unisphere Establishment increased its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 1,642.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,195,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,954,250 shares during the quarter. Bank of America makes up approximately 1.5% of Unisphere Establishment's holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Unisphere Establishment owned about 0.06% of Bank of America worth $175,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Bank of America in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Phillip Securities lowered Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Baird R W lowered Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.39.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC traded down $0.38 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $50.05. 34,135,329 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 32,251,908. The firm has a market capitalization of $370.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.34. Bank of America Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.06 and a 1-year high of $50.92. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $47.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%.Bank of America's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign 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 will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This is a boost from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America's payout ratio is presently 30.41%.

Bank of America Company 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.