Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) was the target of a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 63,840,000 shares, an increase of 5.8% from the October 15th total of 60,320,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 36,660,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Bank of America stock traded down $0.31 on Tuesday, reaching $46.41. 27,907,561 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 38,645,934. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $356.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $41.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.44. Bank of America has a 52 week low of $29.32 and a 52 week high of $47.02.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors 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 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 37.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total transaction of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. This trade represents a 1.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 102,848,970 shares of company stock valued at $4,145,103,288 in the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 37,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,484,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.1% during the third quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 20,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $828,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. McAdam LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 2.1% in the second quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 11,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $455,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. Integrity Financial Corp WA increased its position in Bank of America by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Integrity Financial Corp WA now owns 14,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $590,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Finally, BTC Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.2% during the second quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $805,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BAC. Phillip Securities raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research 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 MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.26.

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.