Bank of America Corporation $BAC Stake Reduced by True North Advisors LLC

True North Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 17.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 68,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,296 shares during the quarter. True North Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 121.0% in the first quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 62,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,589,000 after purchasing an additional 33,963 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 7.8% in the first quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 696,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,061,000 after purchasing an additional 50,296 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the first quarter worth $998,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 37.2% during the first quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 65,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,714,000 after buying an additional 17,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 170.5% during the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 238,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,951,000 after buying an additional 150,299 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on BAC shares. Baird R W cut Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Hsbc Global Res cut Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Citigroup raised their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.92.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $51.84 on Friday. Bank of America Corporation has a 12 month low of $33.06 and a 12 month high of $52.88. The company has a market cap of $384.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.81.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.75%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.