Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Acquired by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 10.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 249,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,617 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $9,909,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 959.6% in the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 9,327,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $370,948,000 after buying an additional 8,447,091 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $261,923,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1,432.1% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,151,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,627,000 after purchasing an additional 5,749,567 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 290.7% in the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 7,114,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $269,763,000 after purchasing an additional 5,293,000 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 3,550.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,547,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,804,560,000 after buying an additional 4,423,215 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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 report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays upped their price target on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bank of America news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total transaction of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. This trade represents a 1.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 three months. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $46.75 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $29.22 and a 1-year high of $46.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $358.71 billion, a PE ratio of 17.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.32. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $41.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during 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%. The business’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.