Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Stake Lessened by Hedges Asset Management LLC

Hedges Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Hedges Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,055,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BAC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 5.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,437,936,000 after purchasing an additional 36,124,363 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 959.6% in the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 9,327,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $370,948,000 after acquiring an additional 8,447,091 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the first quarter worth $261,923,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1,432.1% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,151,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $244,627,000 after acquiring an additional 5,749,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 290.7% in the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 7,114,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $269,763,000 after acquiring an additional 5,293,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $41.89 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $327.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $40.24 and its 200-day moving average is $39.62. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $24.96 and a 52-week high of $44.44. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $32,606,297,408.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Bank of America news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 120,072,238 shares of company stock worth $4,833,067,143. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped 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. 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 research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Piper Sandler Companies raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Cfra reissued a “sell” rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently 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.