Bank of America Corporation $BAC Shares Purchased by Archford Capital Strategies LLC

Archford Capital Strategies LLC lifted its position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,134 shares during the period. Archford Capital Strategies LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $359,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kelly Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at $225,000. Cairn Investment Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at $226,000. Generate Investment Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 272.8% in the 2nd quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd now owns 506,039 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,946,000 after acquiring an additional 370,301 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 22.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 26,714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,264,000 after acquiring an additional 4,831 shares during the period. Finally, Exane Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,540,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the topic of several research reports. HSBC downgraded Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Citigroup increased their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Phillip Securities downgraded Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.82.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.3%

BAC stock opened at $52.36 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.05. 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. The firm has a market cap of $387.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.31, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.34.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This is an increase 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 authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.