Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Shares Down 0.4% After Insider Selling

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s share price dropped 0.4% on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $39.81 and last traded at $40.02. Approximately 5,881,685 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 38,701,051 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.19.

Specifically, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 4,002,225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.14, for a total transaction of $160,649,311.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 776,614,511 shares in the company, valued at $31,173,306,471.54. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 4,076,169 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.05, for a total transaction of $163,250,568.45. Following the sale, the insider now owns 784,549,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,421,224,816.65. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,192,207 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total transaction of $207,895,968.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 788,626,102 shares in the company, valued at $31,576,589,124.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.27.

Bank of America Stock Up 5.0 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $325.51 billion, a PE ratio of 14.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.25.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The company 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 earned $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.62%.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 547 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 839.0% in the second 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. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

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.