Probity Advisors Inc. Purchases 985 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Probity Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 985 shares during the quarter. Probity Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,884,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. McAdam LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.1% in the second quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 11,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $455,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $805,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC now owns 7,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.3% in the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 94,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,742,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of BAC stock opened at $42.84 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $335.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-month high of $44.44. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $39.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.35.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The company’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 35.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,349,021 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.41, for a total value of $269,261,980.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 992,612,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,096,677,379.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,349,021 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.41, for a total transaction of $269,261,980.61. Following the sale, the insider now owns 992,612,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,096,677,379.78. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,230,389 shares of company stock worth $6,023,064,684 over the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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. Cfra reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.62.

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.