Raleigh Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Raleigh Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 667 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $439,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nova Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 75.2% in the 2nd quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Bank of America in the first quarter worth approximately $40,000. HighMark Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 233.6% during the first quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 41.2% during the 1st quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co boosted its position in Bank of America by 67.8% during the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 1,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on BAC shares. HSBC lowered Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.63.

Bank of America Trading Down 1.6%

NYSE:BAC opened at $51.58 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $382.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.08, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.34. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.09.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%.The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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 purchase up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.