Bank of America Corporation $BAC is Guardian Investment Management’s 6th Largest Position

Guardian Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 72,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises approximately 3.4% of Guardian Investment Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Guardian Investment Management’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,420,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of BAC. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 108,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,785,000 after purchasing an additional 25,143 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 4,414.4% during the first 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 last quarter. First County Bank CT raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 7.8% during the first quarter. First County Bank CT now owns 5,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. grew its holdings in Bank of America by 0.8% during the first quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 38,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,623,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Bank of America by 23.3% during the first quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 1,632 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $52.21 on Friday. Bank of America Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.06 and a 52 week high of $52.88. The firm has a market cap of $386.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.27, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $49.07 and a 200-day moving average of $44.93.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 32.75%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Bank of America from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Bank of America from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.92.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was 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 owned 223,407 shares in the company, 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 through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.