Smith Salley Wealth Management Increases Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Smith Salley Wealth Management raised its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 11.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 120,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,317 shares during the period. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $4,769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 402.2% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 1,489.3% during the first quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 834 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $41.89 on Friday. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $24.96 and a fifty-two week high of $44.44. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.59. The company has a market capitalization of $325.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted 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 company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,606,297,408.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 125,336,839 shares of company stock worth $5,049,968,704. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Bank of America from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Piper Sandler upgraded Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.69.

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.