Quest Partners LLC Invests $1.52 Million in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 38,204 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,516,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in Bank of America in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 525.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 852 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were 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. This represents a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total transaction of $369,952,591.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. The trade was a 1.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 102,848,970 shares of company stock valued at $4,145,103,288 in the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BAC. Phillip Securities raised Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to an "accumulate" rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $44.26.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE BAC traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $46.06. The stock had a trading volume of 28,019,224 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,601,410. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $29.32 and a 52-week high of $47.02. The stock has a market cap of $353.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.78 and a 200 day moving average of $40.51.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm's revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is 37.82%.

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.