Hilton Capital Management LLC Purchases Shares of 100,401 Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Hilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 100,401 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,984,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BAC. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in Bank of America by 959.6% during the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 9,327,332 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $370,948,000 after buying an additional 8,447,091 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Bank of America in the first quarter worth $261,923,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Bank of America by 1,432.1% in 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 last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 3,550.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,547,788 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,804,560,000 after buying an additional 4,423,215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter worth $127,252,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $46.06. 27,743,711 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 38,600,262. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $29.32 and a 12-month high of $47.02. The company has a market cap of $353.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.32. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $41.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.51.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.82%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on BAC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays raised their price target on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.26.

Insider Activity

In other Bank of America news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 10,975,008 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.87, for a total value of $437,573,568.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 910,731,659 shares of the company's stock, valued at $36,310,871,244.33. The trade was a 1.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 102,848,970 shares of company stock worth $4,145,103,288. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by 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.