Sfmg LLC Lowers Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Sfmg LLC lowered its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 6.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 764 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $470,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 worth $24,437,936,000 after buying an additional 36,124,363 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 104,030,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,502,720,000 after purchasing an additional 9,879,524 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 40,508,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,363,928,000 after purchasing an additional 2,935,040 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.4% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,354,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,530,241,000 after purchasing an additional 165,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 37,654,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,267,820,000 after purchasing an additional 5,488,790 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.22.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 4,941,403 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total transaction of $197,359,635.82. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 820,719,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,779,519,695.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 4,941,403 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total transaction of $197,359,635.82. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 820,719,071 shares in the company, valued at $32,779,519,695.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 134,722,127 shares of company stock valued at $5,539,949,341 in the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $39.45 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $39.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.97. The company has a market capitalization of $306.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33. 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.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. Research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.