Stevens Capital Management LP Grows Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Stevens Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 334.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,655 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $910,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Bank of America by 1,432.1% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,151,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,627,000 after acquiring an additional 5,749,567 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in Bank of America by 193.4% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 7,608,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $301,898,000 after acquiring an additional 5,015,378 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Bank of America by 3,550.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,547,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,804,560,000 after acquiring an additional 4,423,215 shares during the period. D1 Capital Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the third quarter valued at about $174,858,000. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the second quarter valued at about $127,252,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 1,721,366 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.57, for a total transaction of $68,114,452.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 861,175,131 shares in the company, valued at $34,076,699,933.67. This represents a 0.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 56,945,263 shares of company stock valued at $2,300,620,438 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $46.37 on Thursday. 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 50 day moving average of $43.45 and a 200-day moving average of $41.16. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $30.33 and a 1 year high of $48.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $355.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The firm 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%. Bank of America’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Phillip Securities upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays boosted their price target on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.57.

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.