Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Purchases 1,989 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 1.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 115,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,989 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $5,451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 5,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $467,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of America by 75.2% during the 2nd quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of America by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 12,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $524,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rainier Family Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of America by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Rainier Family Wealth Inc. now owns 6,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Bank of America from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Bank of America from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. HSBC lifted their target price on Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.88.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.5%

BAC stock opened at $50.44 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $373.57 billion, a PE ratio of 14.75, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.06 and a twelve month high of $52.88. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.19.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. The business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders 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 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 presently 32.75%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows 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 management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.