Bank of America Corporation $BAC Shares Bought by Cercano Management LLC

Cercano Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 1,710.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 393,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 372,127 shares during the period. Cercano Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $18,638,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Nova Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in 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. Quaker Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 246.5% in the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the last quarter. RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter valued at $28,000. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 585.4% in the second quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acima Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $52.57 on Friday. Bank of America Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.06 and a 1 year high of $54.69. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.05. The company has a market capitalization of $383.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.32, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $5.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.05 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 10.76%. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BAC shares. Phillip Securities increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Ameriprise Financial upgraded Bank of America to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Argus upped their target price on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.86.

Bank of America Company 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.