Global Assets Advisory LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Global Assets Advisory LLC reduced its position in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 35.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,420 shares during the quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in 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 worth $4,785,000 after acquiring an additional 25,143 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 175,983 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,344,000 after purchasing an additional 19,727 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter worth about $223,000. Single Point Partners LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 306.1% in the 1st quarter. Single Point Partners LLC now owns 27,631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,153,000 after buying an additional 20,827 shares during the period. Finally, AHL Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Bank of America by 5.4% in the first quarter. AHL Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.6%

Bank of America stock opened at $50.36 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $373.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Bank of America Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.06 and a twelve month high of $52.88. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.35.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 32.75%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Phillip Securities cut Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.38.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

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 shares were sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total transaction of $6,762,177.87. Following the completion of 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 SEC, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Bank of America

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.