UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Increases Stock Position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp increased its position in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 1,317.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 182,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 169,270 shares during the period. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $7,600,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new position in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 53.0% during the 4th quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Bank of America from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 target price on shares of Bank of America and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Cowen started coverage on Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Baird R W lowered Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.13.

Bank of America Trading Down 1.4%

Bank of America stock opened at $47.28 on Friday. Bank of America Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.06 and a 52-week high of $49.31. 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 $356.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.82, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $46.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.81.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. During the same period 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes 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 management believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is a positive change 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 dividend payout ratio is 30.41%.

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.