8,522 Shares in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Bought by Ariadne Wealth Management LP

Ariadne Wealth Management LP bought a new stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 8,522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $339,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 17,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $585,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Rollins Financial lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Rollins Financial now owns 441,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,879,000 after purchasing an additional 48,998 shares in the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,090,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 25.6% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 47,246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,591,000 after purchasing an additional 9,626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 406,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,671,000 after purchasing an additional 8,158 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,942,405 shares of company stock valued at $5,785,202,516 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays increased their price target on Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.12.

Bank of America Price Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $39.68 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $39.56 and its 200 day moving average is $39.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $310.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $24.96 and a one year high of $44.44.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

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

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 given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

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.