Bank of America Corporation $BAC Stake Raised by Smith Salley Wealth Management

Smith Salley Wealth Management raised its position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 125,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,228 shares during the period. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $5,933,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nova Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Bank of America by 75.2% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Perkins Coie Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 67.8% during the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 1,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 41.2% in the 1st quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the period. Finally, HighMark Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 233.6% in the first quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Baird R W cut Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. HSBC downgraded Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Sixteen 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.92.

Insider Activity

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 value of $6,762,177.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $52.21 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $49.07 and its 200-day moving average is $44.93. Bank of America Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.06 and a 52 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. The company has a market capitalization of $386.72 billion, a PE ratio of 15.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.34.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. The company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. Equities research 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a boost 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 declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are 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.