XTX Topco Ltd Acquires New Position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 8,406 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $351,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Bank of America by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 122,437,422 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,381,126,000 after acquiring an additional 11,691,451 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Bank of America by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,876,853,000 after acquiring an additional 17,031,143 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Bank of America by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,985,785,000 after acquiring an additional 9,980,859 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Bank of America by 1.3% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 60,417,407 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,521,218,000 after acquiring an additional 803,570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 45,092,517 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,981,816,000 after acquiring an additional 5,092,504 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $46.03 on Friday. Bank of America Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.06 and a 52-week high of $49.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $46.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.76. The firm has a market cap of $340.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.31.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program 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 purchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is a positive change 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 32.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 223,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. Cfra Research lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BAC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.