Ritholtz Wealth Management Has $6.91 Million Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Ritholtz Wealth Management lessened its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 174,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,093 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $6,911,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American National Bank & Trust Co. VA bought a new stake in Bank of America in the first quarter worth $1,322,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 27.1% during the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 98,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,734,000 after acquiring an additional 20,916 shares during the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 8,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457 shares during the last quarter. Councilmark Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the 1st quarter worth approximately $771,000. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 37.7% during the second quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 54,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,163,000 after purchasing an additional 14,901 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC traded up $1.98 on Friday, hitting $41.95. The stock had a trading volume of 50,660,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,864,645. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $39.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.25. 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 twelve month low of $24.96 and a twelve month high of $44.44. The company has a market capitalization of $325.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 36.62%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. Piper Sandler raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler Companies raised Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com cut Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Bank of America from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.27.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Bank of America 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 transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 160,921,082 shares of company stock worth $6,582,343,525. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America 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.