Ascent Group LLC Cuts Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Ascent Group LLC decreased its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 13.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 106,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,565 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $5,042,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nova Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Bank of America by 75.2% in the second quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the first quarter valued at $40,000. HighMark Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 233.6% in the first quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 743 shares during the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 41.2% in the first quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co grew its holdings in Bank of America by 67.8% in the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 1,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen upped their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Erste Group Bank raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Nineteen 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, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.38.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE BAC opened at $50.63 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $49.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.26. Bank of America Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.06 and a twelve month high of $52.88. The company has a market capitalization of $374.98 billion, a PE ratio of 14.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict 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 announced 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. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.75%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.