Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Stock Holdings Increased by PGGM Investments

PGGM Investments boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 56.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 361,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 131,027 shares during the period. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Bank of America were worth $14,394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Bank of America by 5.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,437,936,000 after purchasing an additional 36,124,363 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,734,407,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 104,030,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,502,720,000 after buying an additional 9,879,524 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Bank of America by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 41,833,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,408,520,000 after buying an additional 1,315,056 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 40,508,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,363,928,000 after acquiring an additional 2,935,040 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,993,520 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.63, for a total value of $284,146,717.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 948,077,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,520,401,217.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,549,666 shares of company stock valued at $2,403,801,723. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler Companies upgraded shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target (up previously from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.07.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.8 %

BAC traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $38.78. 25,650,213 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 39,369,301. The stock has a market capitalization of $303.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.42, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.35. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $24.96 and a one year high of $44.44. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The business had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.99%.

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.