First Trust Advisors LP Raises Stock Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 82.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,952,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,484,503 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.14% of Bank of America worth $485,188,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BAC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at $4,774,210,000. Capital International Investors bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $2,357,461,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 640.5% in the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 46,516,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,399,798,000 after buying an additional 40,235,201 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 651,076,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,809,225,000 after buying an additional 23,351,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its stake in Bank of America by 914.5% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 25,095,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,380,239,000 after buying an additional 22,621,546 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Bank of America this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America’s new BofA Rewards program crossed 3 million enrollments in just seven weeks, with most sign-ups happening digitally. That rapid adoption suggests the bank is successfully deepening customer relationships and could support future deposit growth and cross-selling. 3 Million+ Clients Enroll in New BofA Rewards™ Program in First Seven Weeks
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America also enhanced its EricaAssist tool with generative AI, giving more than 18,000 employees faster real-time guidance to resolve client needs. Investors may view this as an efficiency and service-quality improvement that can help lower costs over time. BofA enhances AI-powered tool to resolve client needs faster
• Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer reportedly added Bank of America to its latest buy ideas list with a near-perfect quant rating, reinforcing the bullish case for BAC among analysts. Bank of America leads Oppenheimer’s latest buy additions with near-perfect quant rating
• Positive Sentiment: The bank promoted Thorsten Pauli to lead Asia Pacific capital markets, a move that underscores continued focus on investment banking and global markets opportunities. Bank of America (BAC) Names Thorsten Pauli To Lead Asia Pacific Capital Markets
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America’s small business digital banking platform again ranked first in a Keynova Group scorecard, which may bolster the view that BAC is gaining share through better digital products. Small Business Digital Banking Advances with Payment Innovations and Upgraded Invoicing and Receivables Capabilities
• Neutral Sentiment: Several stories highlighted Bank of America research on other companies, including Micron, Meta, Apple, CoreWeave, and Citizens Financial. These items mainly reflect BAC’s analyst franchise rather than a direct change in Bank of America’s fundamentals.
• Neutral Sentiment: The bank also released workplace wellbeing and broader economic commentary, which add color to the macro backdrop but are less likely to move BAC shares by themselves. BofA Report: Financial Wellbeing of Employees at U.S. Companies Hits Four-Year High, Even as Cost-of-Living Pressures Persist

Bank of America Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of BAC opened at $61.12 on Wednesday. Bank of America Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $44.75 and a fifty-two week high of $62.12. The firm has a market cap of $433.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.02, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $55.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $8.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.78 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 17.56% and a return on equity of 12.20%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.69%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Geoffrey S. Greener sold 126,756 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.01, for a total value of $6,719,335.56. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,373,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $72,803,774.97. The trade was a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Bank of America from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Bank of America from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Bank of America from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.77.

Bank of America Company Profile

Bank of America Corporation is a multinational financial services company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It provides a broad array of banking, investment, asset management and related financial and risk management products and services to individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses, large corporations, governments and institutional investors. The firm operates through consumer banking, global wealth and investment management, global banking and markets businesses, offering capabilities across lending, deposits, payments, advisory and capital markets.

Its consumer-facing offerings include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, home equity lending, auto loans, credit cards and small business banking, supported by a nationwide branch network and digital channels.