Cigna Investments Inc. New Acquires 688 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Cigna Investments Inc. New increased its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 68,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 688 shares during the period. Bank of America comprises about 0.5% of Cigna Investments Inc. New’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Cigna Investments Inc. New’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Bank of America by 1.3% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in Bank of America by 45.1% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,007,718,000 after purchasing an additional 14,960,086 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in Bank of America by 3.7% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 39,233,293 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,637,205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,413,313 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Bank of America by 0.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 31,956,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,333,351,000 after purchasing an additional 188,638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its position in Bank of America by 2.4% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 12,970,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $541,250,000 after purchasing an additional 300,944 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE BAC opened at $51.68 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $48.76 and its 200 day moving average is $44.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.79 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 $52.88. The stock has a market cap of $382.78 billion, a PE ratio of 15.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.34.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 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 company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs 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. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 32.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 stock was sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total value of $6,762,177.87. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Baird R W cut Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 target price on Bank of America and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Phillip Securities cut Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.76.

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.