Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Stock Position Boosted by AQR Capital Management LLC

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 26.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,979,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,473,322 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $276,252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 402.2% in the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the period. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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. In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of Bank of America 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 134,722,127 shares of company stock valued at $5,539,949,341. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $39.27 on Thursday. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-month high of $44.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $304.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $39.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.97.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 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 firm had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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 $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BAC. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Cfra restated a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler Companies upgraded Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.22.

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.