Altman Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Altman Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 48,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the quarter. Altman Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,937,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 839.0% during the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in Bank of America during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in Bank of America by 525.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 852 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of America news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 2,305,415 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.27, for a total transaction of $90,533,647.05. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 812,041,811 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,888,881,917.97. This represents a 0.28 % decrease in their position. 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. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $46.23 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $354.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.88, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $29.32 and a one year high of $47.02. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The firm 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BAC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Phillip Securities raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.26.

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.