Mizuho Securities USA LLC Has $17.37 Million Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC decreased its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 437,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 86,840 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $17,370,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 959.6% during 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 last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the first quarter worth about $261,923,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 5,749,567 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,804,560,000 after purchasing an additional 4,423,215 shares during the period. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter valued at approximately $127,252,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 10,975,008 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.87, for a total transaction of $437,573,568.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 910,731,659 shares in the company, valued at $36,310,871,244.33. This trade represents a 1.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 102,848,970 shares of company stock valued at $4,145,103,288. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE BAC opened at $46.06 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $41.92 and its 200-day moving average is $40.55. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $29.32 and a one year high of $47.02. The firm has a market cap of $353.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.32. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 37.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.26.

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.