Clarius Group LLC Has $3.62 Million Stock Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Clarius Group LLC lessened its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 76,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,270 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 5,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 2.3% in the second quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Nova Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 75.2% in the second quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.9% in the first quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 12,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $524,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rainier Family Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $303,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of BAC opened at $50.63 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $49.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.28. 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 $374.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Corporation has a 12-month low of $33.06 and a 12-month 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. The company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for 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%.Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $0.28 dividend. 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%. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.75%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on BAC. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Phillip Securities downgraded Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Nineteen 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, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.38.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.