Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 3.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 91,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,633 shares during the period. Bank of America comprises 1.1% of Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3.6% in the 1st 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 during the period. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the first quarter valued at approximately $14,420,000. Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 1,489.3% in the first quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 834 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its holdings in Bank of America by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 229,588 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,706,000 after acquiring an additional 14,672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spirepoint Private Client LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $636,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BAC. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.26.

Insider Activity

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total value of $369,952,591.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. This trade represents a 1.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 approximately $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 107,883,988 shares of company stock valued at $4,344,741,752 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $46.75 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $29.22 and a one year high of $46.84. The stock has a market cap of $358.71 billion, a PE ratio of 17.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.32. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $41.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.33. 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 (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 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 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.82%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback 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 reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.