Bank of America Corporation $BAC Stake Lessened by Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lowered its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 0.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 566,293 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,559 shares during the period. Bank of America makes up 0.5% of Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $26,797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wealth Architects LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.1% in the second quarter. Wealth Architects LLC now owns 29,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 22.1% in the second quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 32,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,558,000 after acquiring an additional 5,962 shares during the last quarter. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the second quarter worth $211,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3.5% in the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,576,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $311,211,000 after acquiring an additional 223,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lion Street Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 2.0% in the second quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC now owns 17,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $837,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Erste Group Bank upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Baird R W lowered Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.64.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total value of $6,762,177.87. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE BAC opened at $48.62 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $360.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $49.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.54. 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 current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. The company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%.The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $0.28 dividend. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.75%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.