Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Acquired by Ballentine Partners LLC

Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 138,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,193 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $5,509,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,734,407,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 5.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,437,936,000 after purchasing an additional 36,124,363 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 360.9% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 37,290,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,255,514,000 after purchasing an additional 29,198,846 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 104,030,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,502,720,000 after purchasing an additional 9,879,524 shares during the period. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its position in Bank of America by 959.6% in the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 9,327,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $370,948,000 after buying an additional 8,447,091 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,031,014 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $34,801,017,687.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 owns 863,977,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,801,017,687.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 112,670,620 shares of company stock worth $4,651,681,930. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BAC shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. 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 report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company 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 assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.22.

Bank of America Trading Down 2.8 %

BAC traded down $1.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $38.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 47,007,588 shares, compared to its average volume of 39,322,148. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $24.96 and a twelve month high of $44.44. The stock has a market cap of $303.12 billion, a PE ratio of 13.41, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $40.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.52. 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) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 2.68%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.99%.

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.