Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. Trims Stock Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. cut its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 118,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,174 shares during the period. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $5,630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Nova Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Bank of America by 75.2% during the 2nd quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC opened at $50.60 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $374.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.34. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.28. Bank of America Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.06 and a 1-year high of $50.96.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. The business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%.The company’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $0.28 dividend. 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 (DPR) is currently 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 stock was sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total value of $6,762,177.87. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Phillip Securities downgraded Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. HSBC downgraded Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.39.

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.