Wallington Asset Management LLC Buys 1,560 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Wallington Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 182,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,560 shares during the quarter. Wallington Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $8,620,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Corundum Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 24,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Boyar Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Boyar Asset Management Inc. now owns 151,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,173,000 after purchasing an additional 3,344 shares during the last quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 46,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,185,000 after acquiring an additional 6,004 shares during the last quarter. Washington Growth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,550,000. Finally, Whelan Financial grew its holdings in Bank of America by 35.2% during the 2nd quarter. Whelan Financial now owns 15,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $728,000 after acquiring an additional 4,007 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $50.63 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $374.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.06 and a 52-week high of $52.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $49.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.26.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. Equities analysts forecast 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 buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Baird R W lowered shares of Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has a consensus 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.