tru Independence LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

tru Independence LLC trimmed its position in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 179,262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,494 shares during the period. Bank of America makes up approximately 2.5% of tru Independence LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. tru Independence LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $8,483,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of BAC. Nova Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, HighMark Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 233.6% during the 1st quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the topic of several research reports. Baird R W cut Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Bank of America from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Phillip Securities lowered shares of Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.76.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $51.68 on Wednesday. Bank of America Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.06 and a twelve month high of $52.88. The firm has a market cap of $382.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.11, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a 50 day moving average of $48.76 and a 200 day moving average of $44.68. 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 (NYSE:BAC) last announced 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. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 repurchase up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership 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 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is 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 (DPR) is presently 32.75%.

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.