Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Decreases Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,866,375 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,561,152 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.21% of Bank of America worth $629,578,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BAC. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 3.6% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 29,760 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,129,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. BOKF NA now owns 368,205 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,815,000 after buying an additional 35,547 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 439.7% during the 1st quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,657 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,350 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $237,000. Finally, QVR LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter worth approximately $500,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC stock traded up $0.54 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $47.00. 37,598,827 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 38,628,324. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $29.32 and a fifty-two week high of $47.22. The stock's fifty day moving average is $42.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.65. The company has a market cap of $360.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.32. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during 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 firm's revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. This represents a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 7,081,075 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.95, for a total transaction of $282,888,946.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 896,719,301 shares in the company, valued at $35,823,936,074.95. This trade represents a 0.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,094,698 shares of company stock worth $3,876,350,805 in the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BAC. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays upped their target price on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.26.

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.