Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC Has $3.37 Million Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 496 shares during the quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,373,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 5.9% during 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 during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in Bank of America by 360.9% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 37,290,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,255,514,000 after buying an additional 29,198,846 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 104,030,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,502,720,000 after buying an additional 9,879,524 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 959.6% during 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. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at about $261,923,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on BAC shares. Cfra restated a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Bank of America from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.27.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $39.97 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $310.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $39.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.21. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $24.96 and a one year high of $44.44. 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 results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.62%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bank of America news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,577.37. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 160,921,082 shares of company stock valued at $6,582,343,525. 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.