LS Investment Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

LS Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 283,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,274 shares during the quarter. Bank of America accounts for approximately 1.7% of LS Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $11,260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in Bank of America by 27.1% during the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 98,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,734,000 after acquiring an additional 20,916 shares during the last quarter. Councilmark Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 1st quarter worth approximately $771,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 37.7% during the second quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 54,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,163,000 after purchasing an additional 14,901 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 11.5% during the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 196,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,628,000 after purchasing an additional 20,309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 39.7% during the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 9,941,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $395,381,000 after purchasing an additional 2,827,700 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total value of $369,952,591.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,606,297,408.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total value of $369,952,591.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 113,067,817 shares of company stock worth $4,548,518,070. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE BAC opened at $44.77 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $343.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.32. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $40.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.96. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $27.34 and a twelve month high of $45.55.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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 given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on BAC shares. Phillip Securities upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their price target on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.97.

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.