Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Mediolanum International Funds Ltd

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd trimmed its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 52.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 586,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 653,287 shares during the quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $24,183,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BAC. Hayek Kallen Investment Management increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management now owns 12,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $528,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in Bank of America by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 16,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $734,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 20,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $906,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Northern Financial Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.8% in the first quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc now owns 14,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $600,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 89,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,920,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:BAC opened at $48.47 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.75. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $365.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.30. Bank of America Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.06 and a 1-year high of $49.31.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.79 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 30.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Cowen assumed coverage on Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Bank of America from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Baird R W cut shares of Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.03.

Bank of America Company 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.