State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 1,461,684 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lowered its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 36.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,598,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,461,684 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $103,345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of BAC. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 402.2% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% during the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the period. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the first quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BAC shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” 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 objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.22.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC stock opened at $39.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $304.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $44.44. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.64.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. The business 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 for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.99%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program 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 programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, 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 owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 114,391,986 shares of company stock worth $4,719,796,383 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.