Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Shares Down 3.1% After Insider Selling

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) traded down 3.1% during trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $38.07 and last traded at $38.08. 7,855,444 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 39,223,953 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.28.

Specifically, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 1,721,366 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.57, for a total value of $68,114,452.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 861,175,131 shares in the company, valued at $34,076,699,933.67. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,031,014 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.28, for a total transaction of $202,649,243.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 863,977,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,801,017,687.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,031,639 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.66, for a total transaction of $326,566,441.74. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 874,692,264 shares in the company, valued at $35,564,987,454.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler Companies raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.22.

Bank of America Stock Down 3.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $295.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The company’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 35.99%.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BAC. McAdam LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.1% during the second quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 11,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Bank of America by 1.2% in the second quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $805,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 15.1% during the second quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC now owns 7,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.3% in the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 94,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,742,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.