BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Acquires 1,513,833 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 37.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,566,385 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,513,833 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned 0.07% of Bank of America worth $220,874,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cornerstone Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 494,600 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $19,626,000 after purchasing an additional 36,400 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in Bank of America by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,007,169 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,965,000 after purchasing an additional 298,003 shares during the period. Payden & Rygel raised its position in Bank of America by 669.3% in the 3rd quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 343,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,614,000 after purchasing an additional 298,500 shares during the period. Altman Advisors Inc. raised its position in Bank of America by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. now owns 48,818 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,937,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. Finally, Portfolio Design Labs LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 118,987 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,721,000 after purchasing an additional 12,307 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BAC shares. Phillip Securities raised shares of Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to an "accumulate" rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Oppenheimer lifted 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 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 assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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 company'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 sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This represents a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,754,272 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.79, for a total transaction of $268,752,482.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 921,706,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $36,674,708,279.93. The trade was a 0.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 102,848,970 shares of company stock valued at $4,145,103,288. Insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.8 %

BAC opened at $46.06 on Thursday. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $41.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.55. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $29.32 and a twelve month high of $47.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $353.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 analysts' expectations of $25.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

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

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

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.

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