Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Stake Lifted by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,767,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 309,645 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Bank of America were worth $149,479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on BAC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.26.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $47.76 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $366.46 billion, a PE ratio of 17.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $29.32 and a 12 month high of $47.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.87.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. Bank of America's payout ratio is 37.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 7,938,699 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.61, for a total transaction of $322,390,566.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 882,723,903 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,847,417,700.83. This trade represents a 0.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold 77,946,615 shares of company stock valued at $3,152,226,690 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

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.

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