Short Interest in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Drops By 8.1%

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 74,690,000 shares, a decline of 8.1% from the November 15th total of 81,280,000 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 35,600,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other Bank of America 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,606,297,408.10. The trade was a 1.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 51,257,719 shares of company stock worth $2,075,524,660. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 839.0% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 852 shares during the period. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the third quarter valued at $45,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC stock traded down $0.42 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $45.05. 33,046,593 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 38,156,762. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $345.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America has a 12 month low of $31.27 and a 12 month high of $48.08. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Bank of America will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BAC shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. 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 research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.92.

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.