Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Kimelman & Baird LLC

Kimelman & Baird LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 795,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,955 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises approximately 2.8% of Kimelman & Baird LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Kimelman & Baird LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $33,211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BAC. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Bank of America by 10.6% during the 4th 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 buying an additional 11,691,451 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Bank of America by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,876,853,000 after buying an additional 17,031,143 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Bank of America by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,985,785,000 after buying an additional 9,980,859 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Bank of America by 1.3% during the 1st 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 buying an additional 803,570 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 14,960,086 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE BAC opened at $47.68 on Friday. Bank of America Corporation has a one year low of $33.06 and a one year high of $49.31. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $353.13 billion, a PE ratio of 13.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.31.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 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 business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.41%.

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated 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 purchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Friday, June 27th. 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. HSBC downgraded shares of Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.13.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other Bank of America 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

About Bank of America

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.