Kestra Investment Management LLC Purchases 7,211 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 36.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,946 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,211 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,069,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its stake 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in Bank of America during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 525.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BAC. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.82.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $47.51 on Monday. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $30.04 and a 12-month high of $48.08. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $364.54 billion, a PE ratio of 17.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,606,297,408.10. This trade represents a 1.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 70,007,916 shares of company stock valued at $2,829,836,123. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.