Blue Barn Wealth LLC Raises Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Blue Barn Wealth LLC increased its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 432 shares during the quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.7% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 2,058,789 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $81,878,000 after buying an additional 14,912 shares in the last quarter. Denver PWM LLC bought a new position in Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at $99,000. Columbia Asset Management grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Columbia Asset Management now owns 30,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 3.5% in the second quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 56,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,233,000 after buying an additional 1,922 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Unison Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 0.7% during the second quarter. Unison Asset Management LLC now owns 166,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,641,000 after buying an additional 1,163 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $39.76 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.46. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $24.96 and a 52-week high of $44.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $310.94 billion, a PE ratio of 13.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.35.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has approved 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 repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,031,014 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.28, for a total transaction of $202,649,243.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 863,977,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,801,017,687.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,031,014 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.28, for a total transaction of $202,649,243.92. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 863,977,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,801,017,687.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 112,670,620 shares of company stock worth $4,651,681,930 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Cfra reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned 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 a consensus price target of $42.22.

Bank of America Company 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.