Equitable Trust Co. Cuts Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Equitable Trust Co. lessened its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 0.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 302,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,267 shares during the quarter. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $14,297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 108,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,785,000 after acquiring an additional 25,143 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 8.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 111,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,654,000 after buying an additional 8,435 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 35.2% in the first quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $216,000 after buying an additional 1,348 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 64.9% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 5,534 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 2,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management raised its holdings in Bank of America by 108.1% in the 1st quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 4,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred 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. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Bank of America from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Daiwa Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.64.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $48.86 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.59. The stock has a market cap of $361.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.29, a PEG ratio of 1.89 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. The business 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 firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. 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 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.