Jennison Associates LLC Raises Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 17.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,602,629 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,254,902 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned 0.11% of Bank of America worth $341,352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Accent Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 43.0% in the 3rd quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 39,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,567,000 after buying an additional 11,873 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 237.6% during the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 51,278 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,035,000 after buying an additional 36,089 shares in the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its holdings in Bank of America by 125.8% in the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 61,002 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,421,000 after buying an additional 33,983 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in Bank of America by 27.1% in the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 98,189 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,734,000 after purchasing an additional 20,916 shares during the period. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 37.7% during the 2nd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 54,393 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,163,000 after buying an additional 14,901 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Bank of America stock traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $46.06. The company had a trading volume of 27,706,164 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,559,512. The company's 50-day moving average is $41.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.51. The company has a market cap of $353.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $29.32 and a twelve month high of $47.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

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

Bank of America announced that its board has approved 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 buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to an "accumulate" rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.26.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In related news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. This represents a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total value of $369,952,591.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,606,297,408.10. This represents a 1.12 % 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 worth $4,145,103,288 over the last 90 days. 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.