Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stake in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 621 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises approximately 1.0% of Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,083,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $4,785,000 after buying an additional 25,143 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 8.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 111,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,654,000 after buying an additional 8,435 shares during the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the first quarter valued at $214,000. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 11.9% during the first quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC now owns 16,235 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $677,000 after buying an additional 1,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 11.8% during the first quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 445,157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,576,000 after buying an additional 47,036 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.11.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $49.71 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.46. The company has a market cap of $368.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $33.06 and a fifty-two week high of $52.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. The business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 32.75%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total value of $6,762,177.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.