Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 24.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 179,635 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 34,718 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $7,128,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Bank of America by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 57,539,506 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,288,347,000 after buying an additional 895,884 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,354,449 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,530,241,000 after acquiring an additional 165,070 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,042,952 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $676,264,000 after acquiring an additional 59,853 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 23.6% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 16,260,822 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $646,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,109,197 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of America by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,415,630 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $611,692,000 after purchasing an additional 569,385 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.
Bank of America Stock Down 0.7 %
BAC stock traded down $0.32 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $46.40. 13,351,537 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 38,580,949. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $356.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.44. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $29.32 and a 12 month high of $47.02.
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company's quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Bank of America Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.82%.
Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Phillip Securities upgraded Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to an "accumulate" rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Citigroup upgraded Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Barclays increased their target price on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Bank of America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.26.
View Our Latest Stock Report on Bank of America
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 10,975,008 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.87, for a total value of $437,573,568.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 910,731,659 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $36,310,871,244.33. This represents a 1.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 102,848,970 shares of company stock valued at $4,145,103,288. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
About Bank of America
(
Free Report)
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.
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