Warburton Capital Management LLC Increases Holdings in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Warburton Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 3.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 469 shares during the period. Bank of America comprises approximately 0.4% of Warburton Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Warburton Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $753,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 45.1% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,007,718,000 after purchasing an additional 14,960,086 shares in the last quarter. Unisphere Establishment increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1,642.5% in the 1st quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 4,195,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $175,057,000 after purchasing an additional 3,954,250 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter worth $164,623,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 1st quarter worth $152,098,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 62.9% in the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 8,904,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $421,564,000 after purchasing an additional 3,438,876 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.3%

BAC opened at $51.77 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.19. Bank of America Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.06 and a 52 week high of $52.88. The company has a market capitalization of $383.49 billion, a PE ratio of 14.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.13. Bank of America had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The firm had revenue of $28.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program 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 purchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 30.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Bank of America from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Daiwa Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Phillip Securities upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 in a report on Tuesday. Argus upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Twenty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.23.

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.