Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 12.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 376,032 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 54,515 shares during the period. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $14,955,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BAC. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,502,000. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $515,000. Brio Consultants LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $227,000. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 7,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 826 shares during the period. Finally, Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 17,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $585,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 99,609,567 shares of company stock worth $4,122,483,669. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC traded up $0.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $40.75. 49,098,180 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 39,229,773. 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 $318.68 billion, a PE ratio of 14.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.26. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $24.96 and a 52-week high of $44.44.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its board 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 repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective (up previously from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.07.

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.