MQS Management LLC Acquires New Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

MQS Management LLC bought a new position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 8,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $322,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 1,489.3% during the 1st quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 834 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In related news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This represents a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,754,272 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.79, for a total transaction of $268,752,482.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 921,706,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,674,708,279.93. This trade represents a 0.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 107,883,988 shares of company stock valued at $4,344,741,752 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on BAC. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Citigroup raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on 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. Phillip Securities raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. 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 for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.69.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.1 %

BAC stock opened at $45.91 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $29.20 and a one year high of $46.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $41.22 and its 200 day moving average is $40.22. The firm has a market cap of $352.26 billion, a PE ratio of 16.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.32.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.82%.

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.