Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 10.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 182,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,606 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $7,252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Firestone Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 6.9% in the second quarter. Firestone Capital Management now owns 5,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $239,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the period. Pitti Group Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Pitti Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,013,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016 shares during the period. Plancorp LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 98,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,911,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sargent Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 27.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 52,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,080,000 after purchasing an additional 11,325 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.2 %

Bank of America stock opened at $39.10 on Tuesday. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $24.96 and a fifty-two week high of $44.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $305.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.77. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. Analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Bank of America news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 114,391,986 shares of company stock worth $4,719,796,383. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays upped their price target on Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies upgraded shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.22.

Bank of America Company 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.