Arkadios Wealth Advisors Acquires 4,192 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 112,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,192 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Bank of America were worth $4,463,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,437,936,000 after purchasing an additional 36,124,363 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Bank of America by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 57,539,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,288,347,000 after purchasing an additional 895,884 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Bank of America by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,354,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,530,241,000 after buying an additional 165,070 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 4.7% during the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 21,465,791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $813,983,000 after purchasing an additional 954,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 23.6% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 16,260,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $646,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,109,197 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Bank of America stock traded down $0.76 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $41.89. 27,466,909 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 38,639,859. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $40.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.58. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $325.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $24.96 and a 1 year high of $44.44.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 37.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,993,520 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.63, for a total transaction of $284,146,717.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 948,077,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,520,401,217.15. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,993,520 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.63, for a total transaction of $284,146,717.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 948,077,805 shares in the company, valued at $38,520,401,217.15. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the company’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 value of $3,661,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 125,336,839 shares of company stock valued at $5,049,968,704. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on BAC. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Piper Sandler upgraded Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.69.

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.