Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Purchases 185,731 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,259,938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 185,731 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $65,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the second quarter worth about $5,091,641,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 640.5% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 46,516,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,399,798,000 after purchasing an additional 40,235,201 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 144,371,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,448,816,000 after purchasing an additional 14,275,810 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 124.8% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 17,619,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $833,771,000 after purchasing an additional 9,782,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 52.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC now owns 12,496,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $644,681,000 after purchasing an additional 4,273,472 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE BAC opened at $47.07 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $337.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $52.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Bank of America Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.06 and a 52 week high of $57.55.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. Bank of America had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 11.07%. The company had revenue of $4.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.73 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.24%.

Key Bank of America News

Here are the key news stories impacting Bank of America this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 net interest income (NII) is tracking at least 7% higher year-over-year, which supports near-term earnings and helps offset pressure on other revenue lines. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary is flagging BAC as a deep-value, dividend-paying bank after recent sector selloff (forward P/E in value territory and a ~2.5% yield); that framing can attract value-oriented buyers if sector sentiment stabilizes. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Product/brand move — BofA and Zelle launched faster charitable disbursements from donor-advised funds, a modest but constructive customer-engagement initiative that can deepen deposit and payments relationships over time. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: BofA research raised semiconductor estimates, saying the Iran conflict is unlikely to meaningfully disrupt chip supply chains; useful for sector allocation but only an indirect read-through for bank trading or lending exposure. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Commodities/research note: BofA raised its Brent oil forecast after Strait of Hormuz disruptions — market volatility in energy can boost trading/markets revenue but also raises macro risk. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/regulatory hit — Bank of America agreed to settle a civil lawsuit brought by women accusing the bank of failing to report suspicious Jeffrey Epstein-related transactions. Settlement details are being reported; even if financial impact is manageable, reputational and regulatory scrutiny are negatives for sentiment. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — International President Bernard Mensah disclosed a sale of ~94,000 shares (~$4.4M). Large insider sales can weigh on near-term sentiment even if they are routine or for diversification. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Macro risk warning — BofA economists say investors may be underestimating how the Iran war could disrupt the global economy; elevated geopolitical risk raises downside for markets and bank credit/trading exposure. Read More.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Bank of America from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. HSBC upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Daiwa Securities Group lowered their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.30.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 94,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.94, for a total value of $4,412,360.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 170,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,988,436.96. The trade was a 35.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Thomas M. Scrivener sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.82, for a total transaction of $2,491,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 227,973 shares in the company, valued at $11,357,614.86. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 227,832 shares of company stock valued at $11,094,960. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Profile

Bank of America Corporation is a multinational financial services company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It provides a broad array of banking, investment, asset management and related financial and risk management products and services to individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses, large corporations, governments and institutional investors. The firm operates through consumer banking, global wealth and investment management, global banking and markets businesses, offering capabilities across lending, deposits, payments, advisory and capital markets.

Its consumer-facing offerings include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, home equity lending, auto loans, credit cards and small business banking, supported by a nationwide branch network and digital channels.