Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 51,849 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 1.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,381,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 51,849 shares during the period. Bank of America accounts for about 0.6% of Retirement Systems of Alabama’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $160,028,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BAC. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 108,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,785,000 after buying an additional 25,143 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,013,000 after buying an additional 1,765 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 37,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,574,000 after buying an additional 2,582 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 11.3% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 251,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,513,000 after buying an additional 25,549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clear Creek Financial Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 66.8% during the 1st quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 8,715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $364,000 after buying an additional 3,489 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Bank of America from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Bank of America from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Argus lifted their price target on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Bank of America from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total value of $6,762,177.87. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $52.58 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $389.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Corporation has a one year low of $33.06 and a one year high of $53.28. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $28.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.05 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 15.70%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. Analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.52%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share 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 repurchase up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America 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.