Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Major Shareholder Sells $284,146,717.60 in Stock

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,993,520 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.63, for a total value of $284,146,717.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 948,077,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,520,401,217.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, July 29th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,264,601 shares of Bank of America stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.20, for a total value of $216,901,561.20.
• On Friday, July 26th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 7,526,661 shares of Bank of America stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.70, for a total value of $313,861,763.70.
• On Wednesday, July 24th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,420,599 shares of Bank of America stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.39, for a total value of $229,779,191.61.
• On Monday, July 22nd, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,349,021 shares of Bank of America stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.41, for a total value of $269,261,980.61.
• On Friday, July 19th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of Bank of America stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $530,145,635.91.
• On Wednesday, July 17th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51.

Bank of America Stock Down 4.9 %

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $37.58 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $24.96 and a 1 year high of $44.44. The company has a market cap of $291.61 billion, a PE ratio of 13.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $40.49 and its 200 day moving average is $37.49.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 33.22%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Business Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 56,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,233,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922 shares in the last quarter. Unison Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Unison Asset Management LLC now owns 166,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163 shares during the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 8,183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 98,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,904,000 after acquiring an additional 1,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stablepoint Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at about $316,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research raised Bank of America from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Cfra reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.07.

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.