Investors Research Corp Raises Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Investors Research Corp boosted its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the quarter. Investors Research Corp’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $730,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in Bank of America by 959.6% in the 2nd 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 period. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at about $261,923,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position 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. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 3,550.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,547,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,804,560,000 after purchasing an additional 4,423,215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the second quarter worth approximately $127,252,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BAC. StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.26.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 102,848,970 shares of company stock valued at $4,145,103,288. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $46.70. 8,018,966 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 38,444,801. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.55. The company has a market capitalization of $358.32 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $29.32 and a one year high of $47.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors 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 2.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America 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.