Claro Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Claro Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 43.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 60,312 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 18,400 shares during the quarter. Claro Advisors LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,393,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter worth about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC stock traded up $0.85 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $46.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 40,488,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,791,080. The company has a 50 day moving average of $41.49 and a 200 day moving average of $40.37. The stock has a market cap of $358.71 billion, a PE ratio of 17.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.32. 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 12-month low of $29.22 and a 12-month high of $46.84.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.82%.

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on BAC. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report 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 target for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $44.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,754,272 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.79, for a total transaction of $268,752,482.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 921,706,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $36,674,708,279.93. This represents a 0.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 107,883,988 shares of company stock valued at $4,344,741,752. Corporate 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.