CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC Makes New Investment in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 31,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,259,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BAC. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its position in Bank of America by 959.6% in the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 9,327,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $370,948,000 after acquiring an additional 8,447,091 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter worth $261,923,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 1,432.1% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,151,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $244,627,000 after purchasing an additional 5,749,567 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 3,550.7% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 4,423,215 shares during the period. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America in the second quarter valued at about $127,252,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Citigroup raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total transaction of $465,811,996.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 835,908,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,088,345,979.30. The trade was a 1.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 96,094,698 shares of company stock valued at $3,876,350,805. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Bank of America Price Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $47.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $360.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $29.32 and a 12-month high of $47.22.

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. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

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.