Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. Increases Stock Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. raised its position in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 58.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 161,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 60,000 shares during the quarter. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $7,664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in Bank of America by 45.1% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,007,718,000 after buying an additional 14,960,086 shares during the period. Unisphere Establishment lifted its position in Bank of America by 1,642.5% during the first quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 4,195,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $175,057,000 after buying an additional 3,954,250 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the second quarter valued at $164,623,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in Bank of America during the first quarter valued at $152,098,000. Finally, Azora Capital LP lifted its position in Bank of America by 958.9% during the first quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 3,344,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $139,560,000 after buying an additional 3,028,530 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on BAC. HSBC lowered Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup raised their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Bank of America from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $55.00 price target on Bank of America in a report on Tuesday. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.63.

Insider Activity

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total transaction of $6,762,177.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $51.58 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $49.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.09. 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 company has a market cap of $382.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.08, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.34. Bank of America Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.06 and a 52-week high of $52.88.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. The firm 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

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

Bank of America announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.