Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. lessened its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,469,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 176,004 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $58,430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of BAC. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 402.2% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 839.0% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler Companies upgraded shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Cfra reissued a “sell” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.22.

Bank of America Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $38.78 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $303.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.35. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $44.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 35.99%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 value of $3,661,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 112,670,620 shares of company stock worth $4,651,681,930 over the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.