Simplicity Wealth LLC Acquires 29,992 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 47.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 93,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,992 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $4,428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 121.0% during the 1st quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 62,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,589,000 after acquiring an additional 33,963 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Bank of America during the first quarter valued at approximately $998,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 37.2% during the first quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 65,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,714,000 after purchasing an additional 17,619 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 170.5% during the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 238,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,951,000 after purchasing an additional 150,299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commerce Bank raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 2.3% during the first quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 1,124,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,936,000 after buying an additional 25,618 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC opened at $50.63 on Friday. Bank of America Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.06 and a 52-week 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 company has a market cap of $374.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $49.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.28.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $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, equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $0.28 dividend. This is an increase 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 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 32.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company’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 value of $6,762,177.87. Following the sale, the insider owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at $10,180,656.99. This represents 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 hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BAC. 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 report on Monday, September 29th. Baird R W lowered shares of Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.38.

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.