QRG Capital Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 5.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,036,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 57,807 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $49,068,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nova Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Perkins Coie Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 67.8% during the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 1,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 41.2% during the 1st quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighMark Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 233.6% during the 1st quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider owned 223,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $50.63 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $49.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.26. The company has a market capitalization of $374.98 billion, a PE ratio of 14.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. 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 data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. The company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for 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%.Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $0.28 dividend. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Bank of America from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Phillip Securities lowered Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.38.

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.