Cornerstone Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Cornerstone Advisors LLC grew its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 7.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 494,600 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 36,400 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises approximately 0.8% of Cornerstone Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Cornerstone Advisors LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $19,626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BAC. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its stake in Bank of America by 959.6% during the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 9,327,332 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $370,948,000 after acquiring an additional 8,447,091 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 1st quarter valued at about $261,923,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Bank of America by 1,432.1% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,151,042 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $244,627,000 after buying an additional 5,749,567 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 3,550.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,547,788 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,804,560,000 after acquiring an additional 4,423,215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $127,252,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 921,706,667 shares in the company, valued at $36,674,708,279.93. This represents a 0.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This represents a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 102,848,970 shares of company stock valued at $4,145,103,288 in the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on BAC shares. 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 report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup raised Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $44.26.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $46.06 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $353.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $29.32 and a 52-week high of $47.02. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $41.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.55.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America's payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

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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