Bank of America Corporation $BAC Stock Holdings Increased by Willner & Heller LLC

Willner & Heller LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 7.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the quarter. Willner & Heller LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $284,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Bank of America by 1.3% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 60,417,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,521,218,000 after acquiring an additional 803,570 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised 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 acquiring an additional 14,960,086 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in Bank of America by 3.7% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 39,233,293 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,637,205,000 after acquiring an additional 1,413,313 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Bank of America by 0.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 31,956,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,333,351,000 after acquiring an additional 188,638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service raised its position in Bank of America by 2.4% during the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 12,970,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $541,250,000 after acquiring an additional 300,944 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Bank of America from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased 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. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a report on Friday, June 27th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total transaction of $6,762,177.87. Following the sale, the insider owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $50.63 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.26. The company has a market cap of $374.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.80, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Bank of America Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.06 and a 1 year high of $52.88.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

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

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.