Asset Planning Inc Reduces Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Asset Planning Inc lessened its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 79.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 19,942 shares during the period. Asset Planning Inc’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position 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 worth $2,007,718,000 after purchasing an additional 14,960,086 shares during the last quarter. Unisphere Establishment lifted its stake 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 acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $164,623,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $152,098,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in Bank of America by 62.9% during the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 8,904,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $421,564,000 after acquiring an additional 3,438,876 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the subject of several research reports. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.64.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $48.62 on Friday. 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 fifty day moving average of $49.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $360.12 billion, a PE ratio of 14.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $33.06 and a fifty-two week high of $52.88.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. The company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders 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. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.75%.

Bank of America declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were 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 directly owned 223,407 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.