Cerity Partners LLC Grows Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 20.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,935,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 491,637 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $116,469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 57,539,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,288,347,000 after acquiring an additional 895,884 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.4% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,042,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $676,264,000 after purchasing an additional 59,853 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 23.6% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 16,260,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $646,693,000 after acquiring an additional 3,109,197 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,415,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $611,692,000 after purchasing an additional 569,385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 15.2% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 13,502,778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $535,790,000 after purchasing an additional 1,783,631 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC opened at $47.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $360.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.09, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $29.32 and a 12-month high of $47.22. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average price is $42.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.65.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total transaction of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,606,297,408.10. The trade was a 1.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,094,698 shares of company stock valued at $3,876,350,805 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.26.

Bank of America 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.