LS Investment Advisors LLC Has $11.42 Million Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

LS Investment Advisors LLC cut its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 2.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 287,055 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,918 shares during the quarter. Bank of America makes up about 1.8% of LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $11,416,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC traded down $0.25 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $39.67. The company had a trading volume of 32,060,448 shares, compared to its average volume of 39,208,715. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $310.23 billion, a PE ratio of 13.73, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $40.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.14. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board 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 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 35.99%.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,035,018 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.65, for a total transaction of $199,638,463.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 928,460,939 shares in the company, valued at $36,813,476,231.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,768,513 shares of company stock worth $2,807,216,504. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on BAC shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.07.

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.