Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC Raises Holdings in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 277,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,921 shares during the quarter. Bank of America accounts for about 1.0% of Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $13,123,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 45.1% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,007,718,000 after acquiring an additional 14,960,086 shares during the period. Unisphere Establishment boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 1,642.5% during the 1st quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 4,195,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $175,057,000 after acquiring an additional 3,954,250 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter valued at about $164,623,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at about $152,098,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 62.9% in the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 8,904,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $421,564,000 after buying an additional 3,438,876 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total transaction of $6,762,177.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 223,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,180,656.99. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.4%

BAC stock opened at $48.86 on Tuesday. Bank of America Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.06 and a twelve month high of $52.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $361.93 billion, a PE ratio of 14.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50 day moving average of $49.67 and a 200 day moving average of $45.59.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%.The company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 32.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on BAC. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on Bank of America from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Baird R W cut Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Bank of America from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Friday, June 27th. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.64.

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.