2. Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 100
Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) offers financial and banking services and products to a diverse range of clients worldwide, including individual consumers, small to middle-sized businesses, institutional investors, large corporations, and governments. On April 26, Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, in line with previous. The dividend is distributable on June 30, to shareholders of record on June 2. According to securities filings for Q1 2023, Steve Cohen discarded his entire stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC), which consisted of 151,970 shares worth $5 million.
On May 12, Evercore ISI analyst Glenn Schorr lowered the firm’s price target on Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) to $35 from $36 and maintained an Outperform rating on the shares. This came after the FDIC issued its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding the calculation of a special assessment that banks must pay to replenish the deposit insurance fund in the aftermath of Signature Bank and SVB failures. After assessing the potential impacts of this special assessment, Evercore’s 2024 estimates have been adjusted downwards, and targets have been lowered for all banks except for Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, which are expected to experience an insignificant EPS impact.
According to Insider Monkey’s Q4 data, 100 hedge funds were bullish on Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC), compared to 97 funds in the prior quarter. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is the largest stakeholder of the company.
Oakmark Equity and Income Fund made the following comment about Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) in its Q1 2023 investor letter:
“The Oakmark Equity and Income Fund has 29% of its equity portfolio in financials. This made the March sell-off painful, but we do not believe that this has meaningfully changed the value of most of our financial equity holdings. In fact, we were adding to financial positions throughout March. We believe that one way to analyze our financial holdings is to look at them in different buckets given their various business models and risk profiles. Almost 30% of our financial exposure is in insurance companies and insurance brokers. Insurance companies have very stable liability profiles, so the main risk is a change in asset values. We are comfortable with their investment portfolios and think these stocks are quite attractive. Around 5% of our financials are asset managers. This leaves a little over 40% of the financials exposure in a varied group of banks and lenders. About 5% of that portfolio is in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) and State Street. These two banks are designated as Systemically Important Financial Institutions and are held to higher regulatory standards. Our largest single financials holding is Bank of America, which has grown deposits during March, and we believe it is one of the best managed companies in the sector.”
