Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Grows Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 39.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,941,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,827,700 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises approximately 1.1% of Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned about 0.13% of Bank of America worth $395,381,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 839.0% in the 2nd 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. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Bank of America in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BAC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler Companies upgraded Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.12.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE BAC opened at $39.23 on Wednesday. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-month high of $44.44. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.09. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $306.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

Bank of America announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Bank of America news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,942,405 shares of company stock valued at $5,785,202,516 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Bank of America 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.