Capital Investment Counsel Inc Sells 7,803 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Capital Investment Counsel Inc trimmed its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 7.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 96,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,803 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,852,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BAC. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the first quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1,489.3% during the first quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 834 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Stock Down 2.5 %

NYSE BAC traded down $0.98 on Tuesday, hitting $38.69. 44,426,578 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 39,234,125. 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 has a fifty day moving average of $40.20 and a 200-day moving average of $37.96. The company has a market cap of $302.57 billion, a PE ratio of 13.39, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.35. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $24.96 and a 12 month high of $44.44.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,035,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.65, for a total value of $199,638,463.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 928,460,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,813,476,231.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,035,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.65, for a total value of $199,638,463.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 928,460,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,813,476,231.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 66,768,513 shares of company stock worth $2,807,216,504. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BAC. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Bank of America from $39.50 to $40.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.07.

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.