J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Cuts Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 106,178 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,824 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $4,223,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 402.2% in the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its position in 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the period. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 114,391,986 shares of company stock worth $4,719,796,383 in the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on BAC shares. Piper Sandler raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.22.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:BAC opened at $38.65 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $40.14 and a 200 day moving average of $38.67. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $44.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $299.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The company had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.99%.

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.