Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC lowered its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 3.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,430 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 290 shares during the period. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Quent Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 3.6% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 29,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,129,000 after buying an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in Bank of America by 19.6% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 487,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,491,000 after acquiring an additional 79,771 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 15.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 198,687 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,534,000 after acquiring an additional 26,994 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in Bank of America during the first quarter valued at $583,000. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 13.6% in the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 67,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,556,000 after purchasing an additional 8,094 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of BAC opened at $44.77 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.96. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $27.34 and a 12-month high of $45.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $343.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The business’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total transaction of $465,811,996.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 835,908,435 shares in the company, valued at $34,088,345,979.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 113,067,817 shares of company stock valued at $4,548,518,070. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Phillip Securities upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.97.

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.