Vision Capital Management Inc. Buys 8,505 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Vision Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Bank of America by 8.7%, acquiring an additional 8,505 shares for a total of 106,507 shares worth $5,040,000 as of the latest SEC filing.
• Bank of America declared a quarterly dividend increase to $0.28 per share and initiated a $40 billion stock buyback plan, indicating confidence in the company's valuation.
• Analysts have varied target prices for Bank of America stock, with Wells Fargo raising its target from $56.00 to $60.00 and Wall Street Zen upgrading the stock's rating from sell to hold.

Vision Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 8.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 106,507 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,505 shares during the period. Vision Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $5,040,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 45.1% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,007,718,000 after acquiring an additional 14,960,086 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 4,414.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,654,022 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $194,212,000 after purchasing an additional 4,550,930 shares during the period. Unisphere Establishment raised its position in Bank of America by 1,642.5% in the 1st quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 4,195,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $175,057,000 after purchasing an additional 3,954,250 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America in the 2nd quarter worth $164,623,000. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in Bank of America in the 1st quarter worth $152,098,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total transaction of $6,762,177.87. Following the transaction, the insider owned 223,407 shares in the company, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $51.84 on Friday. Bank of America Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.06 and a 1 year high of $52.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company's 50-day moving average is $48.97 and its 200 day moving average is $44.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $384.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.34.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. Bank of America's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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 initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically 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 given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is an increase from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BAC shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 target price on shares of Bank of America and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bank of America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Phillip Securities cut shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued 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 $50.92.

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.

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