Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $1.38 Billion Stock Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP cut its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 34,795,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 274,722 shares during the quarter. Bank of America accounts for 0.4% of Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,383,755,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the period. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% during the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the period. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BAC. Piper Sandler Companies raised Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler upgraded Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.22.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 114,391,986 shares of company stock worth $4,719,796,383. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $38.65 on Monday. 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 stock has a market cap of $299.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.37, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $40.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.74. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $24.96 and a twelve month high of $44.44.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The company’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 35.99%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program 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 programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.