Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Buys 1,447 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 0.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,059,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,447 shares during the period. Bank of America comprises 1.6% of Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $50,155,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BAC. Bell Bank lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bell Bank now owns 20,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $952,000 after acquiring an additional 2,747 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 49.7% in the 2nd quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 821,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,895,000 after acquiring an additional 272,950 shares during the period. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. lifted its position in Bank of America by 6.0% in the second quarter. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. now owns 6,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in Bank of America in the second quarter worth $164,623,000. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its position in Bank of America by 8.8% in the second quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 1,402,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,383,000 after purchasing an additional 113,214 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Phillip Securities cut shares of Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Bank of America Stock Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $52.27 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Bank of America Corporation has a 12-month low of $33.06 and a 12-month high of $52.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $387.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.34.

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, 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 firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. Bank of America’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.75%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.