Empirical Finance LLC Acquires 1,436 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Empirical Finance LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 0.6% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 242,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,436 shares during the quarter. Bank of America makes up about 0.6% of Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $11,476,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 5,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 4.1% during the second quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC now owns 5,489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 0.8% during the second quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 28,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,344,000 after buying an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $467,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nova Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake 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. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BAC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Bank of America from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 target price (up previously from $57.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.86.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC stock opened at $51.64 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $377.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.34. Bank of America Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.06 and a 52 week high of $54.69. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.26.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $5.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.05 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 10.76%. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock 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 reacquire up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.52%.

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.