Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Has $13.84 Million Stock Holdings in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 3.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 292,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,787 shares during the quarter. Bank of America accounts for 0.8% of Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $13,840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.2% during the second quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 91,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,320,000 after acquiring an additional 1,974 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 122,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,795,000 after purchasing an additional 2,664 shares in the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 285,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,500,000 after purchasing an additional 11,898 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 13.1% in the second quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 195,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,232,000 after purchasing an additional 22,593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Strategic Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter worth about $225,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.3%

BAC stock opened at $50.63 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $374.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $49.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.30. Bank of America Corporation has a one year low of $33.06 and a one year high of $52.88. 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 (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. The company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program 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 reacquire up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Bank of America from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Baird R W lowered shares of Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. HSBC raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.38.

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.