Bank of America Corporation $BAC Shares Sold by BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S reduced its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 24.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 523,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 166,252 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $25,507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Legacy Bridge LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 182.3% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Bridge LLC now owns 511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. CrossGen Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management acquired a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BAC. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Bank of America from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Argus upped their price target on Bank of America from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.06.

Bank of America Price Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $56.26 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. Bank of America Corporation has a 1 year low of $44.75 and a 1 year high of $57.98. The company has a market capitalization of $399.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.18.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.11. Bank of America had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 11.49%. The firm had revenue of $30.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 27.72%.

Trending Headlines about Bank of America

Here are the key news stories impacting Bank of America this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America’s internal research is being cited as bullish for the bank sector, with commentary that higher rates can still support net interest income even as the Fed holds rates steady, which could help BAC’s earnings outlook. Fed Holds Rates But Signals Hike: Key Takeaways for Bank Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America also drew attention for its view that lower-income households may be stabilizing, suggesting the consumer backdrop could be improving and reducing recession fears that would hurt loan growth and credit quality. Miserable K-shaped economy might actually be fading, as lower-income families bounce back, says Bank of America
• Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America revealed a roughly 3% indirect stake in Qiagen and reported similar holdings disclosures for Umicore; these are portfolio/ownership updates and are unlikely to have a direct impact on BAC’s core banking results. Bank of America Reveals 3.01% Indirect Stake in Qiagen Umicore – Transparency notifications by Bank of America Corporation
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that a Fed official spoke at a private Bank of America client dinner may attract headlines, but it appears more like a reputational/regulatory talking point than a direct earnings driver. The Fed’s vice chair of supervision spoke at a private dinner Bank of America hosted for clients hours after the central bank announced its latest policy decision
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America is facing fresh scrutiny tied to regulators’ upcoming “debanking” findings, which could create policy and compliance concerns for large banks like BAC. Bank Of America (BAC) Faces Fresh Scrutiny As Regulators Ready Debanking Findings

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other news, insider Geoffrey S. Greener sold 126,756 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.01, for a total value of $6,719,335.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,373,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $72,803,774.97. The trade was a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Bank of America Company Profile

Bank of America Corporation is a multinational financial services company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It provides a broad array of banking, investment, asset management and related financial and risk management products and services to individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses, large corporations, governments and institutional investors. The firm operates through consumer banking, global wealth and investment management, global banking and markets businesses, offering capabilities across lending, deposits, payments, advisory and capital markets.

Its consumer-facing offerings include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, home equity lending, auto loans, credit cards and small business banking, supported by a nationwide branch network and digital channels.