Taurus Asset Management LLC Sells 25,000 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Taurus Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 4.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 522,859 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 25,000 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises about 2.0% of Taurus Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Taurus Asset Management LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $20,747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 57,539,506 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,288,347,000 after buying an additional 895,884 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 0.4% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,354,449 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,530,241,000 after acquiring an additional 165,070 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Bank of America by 0.4% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,042,952 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $676,264,000 after purchasing an additional 59,853 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 23.6% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 16,260,822 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $646,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,109,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Bank of America by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,415,630 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $611,692,000 after purchasing an additional 569,385 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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 research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays upped their price objective on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $44.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total transaction of $369,952,591.90. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This represents a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 102,848,970 shares of company stock worth $4,145,103,288. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Bank of America stock remained flat at $46.75 during midday trading on Monday. The company had a trading volume of 16,491,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,622,871. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $29.32 and a 1-year 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 company's fifty day moving average is $41.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $358.71 billion, a PE ratio of 17.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The company 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 firm's revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, sell-side 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 business 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 payout ratio is 37.82%.

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

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.