Phocas Financial Corp. Purchases New Holdings in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Phocas Financial Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 4,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in Bank of America by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 44,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,108,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group raised its holdings in Bank of America by 12.4% in the second quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 42,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,855,000 after buying an additional 4,631 shares during the last quarter. Financial Alternatives Inc bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the second quarter worth approximately $209,000. ORBA Wealth Advisors L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the second quarter worth approximately $334,000. Finally, Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 35.9% during the second quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC now owns 4,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $202,000 after buying an additional 1,126 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $52.44 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $382.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.29, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.35. Bank of America Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.06 and a 52-week high of $53.99.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Bank of America had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The firm had revenue of $28.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BAC shares. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Bank of America from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Bank of America from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 target price (up previously from $57.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, HSBC raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Twenty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.59.

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.