Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Trims Stock Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lowered its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 439 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,798,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 5,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 75.2% during the 2nd quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 12,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rainier Family Wealth Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Rainier Family Wealth Inc. now owns 6,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.3%

BAC stock opened at $50.63 on Friday. Bank of America Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.06 and a 1-year high of $52.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $374.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.80, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.26.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%.The business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change 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 has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BAC. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Bank of America from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Erste Group Bank upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Phillip Securities downgraded Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.38.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Company 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.