Strs Ohio Takes $84.07 Million Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,014,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $84,066,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BAC. Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 6.6% during the first quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 50,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,114,000 after purchasing an additional 3,123 shares in the last quarter. Intrua Financial LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 4.8% in the first quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 12,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $507,000 after buying an additional 552 shares in the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 1.5% in the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 162,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,791,000 after buying an additional 2,394 shares in the last quarter. Rollins Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 6.2% in the first quarter. Rollins Financial Advisors LLC now owns 558,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,295,000 after buying an additional 32,755 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 5.7% in the first quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 63,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,669,000 after buying an additional 3,426 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC opened at $50.17 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $48.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.19. Bank of America Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.06 and a 52-week high of $50.92. 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 $371.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.34.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results 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 for 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 was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect 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 buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid 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 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 32.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at $10,180,656.99. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BAC shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Cowen began coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Baird R W lowered shares of Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.39.

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.