Mizuho Securities USA LLC Trims Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC trimmed its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 40.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 313,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 210,723 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $12,454,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in Bank of America by 525.9% during the 3rd 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 period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $46.75 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $41.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.35. The firm has a market cap of $358.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.00, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $29.22 and a one year high of $46.84. 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 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Bank of America declared that its board has approved a stock buyback 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 purchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BAC shares. Oppenheimer increased their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,754,272 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.79, for a total value of $268,752,482.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 921,706,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,674,708,279.93. The trade was a 0.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 107,883,988 shares of company stock valued at $4,344,741,752. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Company 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.