Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Bought by Independent Advisor Alliance

Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 221,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,971 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $8,772,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in Bank of America by 48.4% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 14,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $588,000 after purchasing an additional 4,837 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the third quarter worth $2,723,000. Davis R M Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 7.0% during the third quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 502,726 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,948,000 after buying an additional 32,999 shares during the last quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 19.2% in the 3rd quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 7,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,215,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,794,164,000 after acquiring an additional 1,731,003 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $47.00 on Monday. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $29.32 and a 1-year high of $47.22. The stock has a market cap of $360.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.69. 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, 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 net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. This represents a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 7,081,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.95, for a total value of $282,888,946.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 896,719,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,823,936,074.95. This represents a 0.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 85,119,690 shares of company stock worth $3,438,777,236 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on BAC. Citigroup upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.26.

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.