Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by STAR Financial Bank

STAR Financial Bank lessened its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 20.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,208 shares during the period. STAR Financial Bank’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $337,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in Bank of America by 959.6% during the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 9,327,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $370,948,000 after buying an additional 8,447,091 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the first quarter worth about $261,923,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 1,432.1% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,151,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $244,627,000 after buying an additional 5,749,567 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3,550.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,547,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,804,560,000 after buying an additional 4,423,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $127,252,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.8 %

BAC stock opened at $46.06 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $41.92 and a 200-day moving average of $40.55. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $29.32 and a fifty-two week high of $47.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $353.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 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.

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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

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 $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.82%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on BAC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. Citigroup raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 2,305,415 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.27, for a total value of $90,533,647.05. Following the sale, the insider now owns 812,041,811 shares in the company, valued at $31,888,881,917.97. This represents a 0.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America 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 owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. This represents a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 102,848,970 shares of company stock worth $4,145,103,288. 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.