Blueshift Asset Management LLC Invests $204,000 in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 122,437,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,381,126,000 after purchasing an additional 11,691,451 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,876,853,000 after purchasing an additional 17,031,143 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,985,785,000 after purchasing an additional 9,980,859 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 60,417,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,521,218,000 after purchasing an additional 803,570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 45,092,517 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,981,816,000 after purchasing an additional 5,092,504 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC opened at $45.65 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $338.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.31. Bank of America Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.06 and a 52-week high of $49.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.80. The business’s fifty day moving average is $46.27 and its 200-day moving average is $43.77.

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

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 30.41%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total transaction of $6,762,177.87. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Friday, June 27th. UBS Group increased their price target on Bank of America from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Cfra Research increased their price target on Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.13.

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.