Menard Financial Group LLC Buys 3,044 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Menard Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 20.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,044 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 402.2% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% during the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the period. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Bank of America in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $38.65 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.74. The company has a market capitalization of $299.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $24.96 and a 52-week high of $44.44.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.99%.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 114,391,986 shares of company stock worth $4,719,796,383. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BAC. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Cfra restated a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.22.

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.