Pursue Wealth Partners LLC Acquires 1,475 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Pursue Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,475 shares during the period. Pursue Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 5.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,437,936,000 after purchasing an additional 36,124,363 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at $3,734,407,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 104,030,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,502,720,000 after acquiring an additional 9,879,524 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 40,508,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,363,928,000 after acquiring an additional 2,935,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.4% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,354,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,530,241,000 after purchasing an additional 165,070 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE BAC opened at $40.49 on Thursday. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $24.96 and a 1 year high of $44.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $316.65 billion, a PE ratio of 14.01, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The business’s 50-day moving average is $40.30 and its 200 day moving average is $38.45.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.99%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 99,607,967 shares of company stock valued at $4,122,466,245. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BAC shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays raised 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective (up previously from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.22.

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.