Princeton Global Asset Management LLC Boosts Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 95,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,712 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,809,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. McAdam LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 11,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Integrity Financial Corp WA raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Integrity Financial Corp WA now owns 14,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $590,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $805,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SNS Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC now owns 7,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of BAC opened at $41.76 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $40.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $320.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.19, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.32. 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 1-year low of $26.59 and a 1-year high of $44.44.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.26 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock 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 purchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of 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 lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $34,088,345,979.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 835,908,435 shares in the company, valued at $34,088,345,979.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,078,718 shares of company stock valued at $4,548,920,425 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

About Bank of America

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.