LRI Investments LLC Raises Stake in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 2.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 821 shares during the quarter. LRI Investments LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 4.4% in the second quarter. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 5,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 0.8% in the second quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 28,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,344,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Centurion Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 2.3% in the second quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $467,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Nova Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of America by 1.9% in the first quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 12,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $524,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total transaction of $6,762,177.87. Following the transaction, the insider 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC opened at $48.62 on Friday. Bank of America Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.06 and a 52-week high of $52.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $360.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $49.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.52.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is an increase 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 is currently 32.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BAC. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a report on Friday, June 27th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.64.

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.