Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Motco

Motco lessened its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 57.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,917 shares during the period. Motco’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gradient Investments LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 696,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,061,000 after acquiring an additional 50,296 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas increased its position in Bank of America by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 158,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,640,000 after acquiring an additional 17,880 shares during the period. Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Bank of America in the 1st quarter valued at about $998,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 37.2% in the 1st quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 65,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,714,000 after acquiring an additional 17,619 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 170.5% in the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 238,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,951,000 after acquiring an additional 150,299 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BAC shares. Argus dropped their target price on Bank of America from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. HSBC cut Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Phillip Securities upgraded Bank of America from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Baird R W cut Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.03.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC stock opened at $48.47 on Friday. Bank of America Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.06 and a 1 year high of $49.31. The firm has a market cap of $365.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.17, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $45.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%. The company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.41%.

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.