Sonata Capital Group Inc. Sells 300 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Sonata Capital Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 3.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Sonata Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $369,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 27.1% in the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 98,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,734,000 after purchasing an additional 20,916 shares during the last quarter. Councilmark Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Bank of America in the 1st quarter valued at $771,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 37.7% in the second quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 54,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,163,000 after purchasing an additional 14,901 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in Bank of America by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 196,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,628,000 after acquiring an additional 20,309 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in Bank of America by 39.7% in the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 9,941,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $395,381,000 after acquiring an additional 2,827,700 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI boosted 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. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.69.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE BAC traded up $0.56 on Friday, reaching $45.33. The company had a trading volume of 9,486,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,585,207. The company’s fifty day moving average is $40.72 and its 200-day moving average is $39.96. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $27.34 and a 1-year high of $45.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $347.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.32. 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 posted 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 return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total value of $465,811,996.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 835,908,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,088,345,979.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total transaction of $465,811,996.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 835,908,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,088,345,979.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were 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 owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,067,817 shares of company stock worth $4,548,518,070 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.