Banco Santander S.A. Purchases 56,109 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Banco Santander S.A. lifted its position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,500,804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 56,109 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises approximately 0.7% of Banco Santander S.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $71,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Bank of America by 45.1% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,007,718,000 after acquiring an additional 14,960,086 shares in the last quarter. Unisphere Establishment grew its position in Bank of America by 1,642.5% in the first quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 4,195,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $175,057,000 after acquiring an additional 3,954,250 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America in the second quarter worth $164,623,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in Bank of America in the first quarter worth $152,098,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its position in Bank of America by 62.9% in the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 8,904,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $421,564,000 after acquiring an additional 3,438,876 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Phillip Securities upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.23.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $52.44 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $388.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $50.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $28.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.05 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 30.52%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company 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.