First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. Sells 1,487 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 9.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,458 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,487 shares during the quarter. First Wilshire Securities Management Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $562,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vega Investment Solutions bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Cowen assumed coverage on Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Phillip Securities cut Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.13.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $47.92 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $354.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.01, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Bank of America Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.06 and a 1-year high of $49.31.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released 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. The business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 32.75%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares of the company’s stock, 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 owned by corporate insiders.

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.