Quent Capital LLC Purchases 1,621 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,621 shares during the quarter. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,624,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 25,143 shares during the period. Fermata Advisors LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 115.6% during the first quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 14,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $588,000 after purchasing an additional 7,550 shares during the period. AMI Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Bank of America by 1.2% during the first quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 83,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,484,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011 shares during the period. Foster Group Inc. increased its holdings in Bank of America by 15.5% in the first quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 11,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $486,000 after buying an additional 1,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.6% in the first quarter. Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC now owns 52,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,211,000 after purchasing an additional 842 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $50.63 on Friday. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.26. The firm has a market cap 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. Bank of America Corporation has a 12-month low of $33.06 and a 12-month high of $52.88.

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, 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 firm 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 earned $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, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.75%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BAC shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 stock was sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total transaction of $6,762,177.87. Following the sale, the insider owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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.