Simplicity Wealth LLC Increases Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 176,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,887 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $7,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BAC. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,734,407,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,437,936,000 after buying an additional 36,124,363 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 360.9% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 37,290,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,255,514,000 after buying an additional 29,198,846 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 104,030,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,502,720,000 after buying an additional 9,879,524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 959.6% during the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 9,327,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $370,948,000 after buying an additional 8,447,091 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Up 2.4 %

BAC stock traded up $0.91 during trading on Thursday, hitting $38.21. 36,543,209 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 39,704,102. The stock has a market capitalization of $298.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.22, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $40.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.60. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $24.96 and a 52-week high of $44.44.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The business had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bank of America news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total transaction of $530,145,635.91. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 998,961,079 shares in the company, valued at $43,085,191,337.27. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,549,666 shares of company stock valued at $2,403,801,723 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Cfra restated a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Bank of America from $39.50 to $40.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target (up previously from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.07.

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.