EULAV Asset Management Decreases Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

EULAV Asset Management cut its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 18.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 90,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 20,000 shares during the period. EULAV Asset Management's holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,571,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 839.0% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in Bank of America by 525.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.8 %

BAC stock traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $46.06. The company had a trading volume of 28,019,224 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,601,410. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. 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 price-to-earnings ratio of 16.74, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.32. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $41.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.51.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America's payout ratio is 37.82%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on BAC. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Phillip Securities raised shares of Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to an "accumulate" rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $44.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company's stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total value of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 102,848,970 shares of company stock valued at $4,145,103,288. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.