Ariel Investments LLC Grows Stock Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Ariel Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 409.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 839,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 675,109 shares during the period. Ariel Investments LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $35,050,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BAC. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 1.4% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC grew its position in Bank of America by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 20,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $906,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. Maia Wealth LLC grew its position in Bank of America by 1.4% during the first quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 17,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $723,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. Northern Financial Advisors Inc grew its position in Bank of America by 1.8% during the first quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc now owns 14,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $600,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust grew its position in Bank of America by 1.4% during the first quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 18,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $832,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $50.36 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $373.02 billion, a PE ratio of 14.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.34. Bank of America Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.06 and a 1-year high of $50.92.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 2.2%. 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 payout ratio is currently 30.41%.

Bank of America declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Phillip Securities lowered 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 price target on shares of Bank of America and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $53.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.39.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total value of $6,762,177.87. Following the transaction, the insider owned 223,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.