AMF Tjanstepension AB Buys 3,438,876 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 62.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,904,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,438,876 shares during the period. Bank of America comprises approximately 2.8% of AMF Tjanstepension AB’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. AMF Tjanstepension AB’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $421,564,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nova Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Bank of America by 75.2% during the 2nd quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the period. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. HighMark Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 233.6% during the 1st quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the period. Perkins Coie Trust Co increased its stake 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 buying an additional 423 shares during the period. Finally, Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 306 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 223,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,180,656.99. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on BAC. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.38.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $50.63 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.26. The company has a market cap of $374.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Bank of America Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $33.06 and a fifty-two week high of $52.88.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 32.75%.

About Bank of America

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.