Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Cuts Stock Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lessened its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 10.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 902,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 105,603 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $42,695,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Bank of America by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 60,417,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,521,218,000 after buying an additional 803,570 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Bank of America by 45.1% in 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 buying an additional 14,960,086 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in Bank of America by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 39,233,293 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,637,205,000 after buying an additional 1,413,313 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Bank of America by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 31,956,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,333,351,000 after buying an additional 188,638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its stake in Bank of America by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 12,970,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $541,250,000 after buying an additional 300,944 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.5%

BAC opened at $50.44 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $373.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Corporation has a 12 month low of $33.06 and a 12 month high of $52.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $49.33 and a 200 day moving average of $45.19.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.75%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on BAC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Bank of America from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup raised their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Hsbc Global Res lowered Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Bank of America from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.88.

Insider Activity

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.