Swedbank AB Sells 1,342,444 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Swedbank AB lowered its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 10.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 11,589,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,342,444 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $548,437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 121.0% during the first quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 62,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,589,000 after acquiring an additional 33,963 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 696,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,061,000 after purchasing an additional 50,296 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 1st quarter worth about $998,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 37.2% during the 1st quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 65,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,714,000 after purchasing an additional 17,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 170.5% during the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 238,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,951,000 after purchasing an additional 150,299 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $51.36 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $380.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.02, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50-day moving average of $48.33 and a 200-day moving average of $44.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Bank of America Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $33.06 and a fifty-two week high of $51.63.

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

Bank of America declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company 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 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 32.75%.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 223,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,180,656.99. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC downgraded shares of Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 price objective on Bank of America and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.61.

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.