NBW Capital LLC Reduces Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

NBW Capital LLC lessened its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 7.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 39,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,373 shares during the period. NBW Capital LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,587,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter worth $5,243,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at about $182,000. Fred Alger Management LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 187,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,437,000 after acquiring an additional 8,570 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its position in Bank of America by 70.1% during the second quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 3,641,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $144,803,000 after purchasing an additional 1,501,073 shares during the period. Finally, Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 2.1% during the second quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $591,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price (up previously from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.22.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC stock opened at $39.45 on Wednesday. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $24.96 and a fifty-two week high of $44.44. The company has a market capitalization of $306.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.65, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $39.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.97.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. The company’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. Analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.99%.

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

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 134,722,127 shares of company stock worth $5,539,949,341 over the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.