Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Synovus Financial Corp

Synovus Financial Corp reduced its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 513,099 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 74,724 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $20,360,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 525.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.92.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total value of $465,811,996.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 835,908,435 shares in the company, valued at $34,088,345,979.30. The trade was a 1.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 55,223,897 shares of company stock valued at $2,232,505,985 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $46.08 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $30.63 and a 52 week high of $48.08. The stock has a market cap of $353.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $44.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

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

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.