Financial Alternatives Inc Makes New $209,000 Investment in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Financial Alternatives Inc bought a new position in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 4,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.7% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 39,233,293 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,637,205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,413,313 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 31,956,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,333,351,000 after purchasing an additional 188,638 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 5.7% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 16,562,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $783,759,000 after purchasing an additional 894,027 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.4% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 12,970,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $541,250,000 after purchasing an additional 300,944 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective (up from $57.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Bank of America from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.59.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $53.56 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $51.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company has a market capitalization of $396.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.06 and a 52-week high of $54.00.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.13. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 15.70%.The company had revenue of $28.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 30.52%.

Bank of America announced that its board has approved a stock 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 reacquire up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors 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.