Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV Reduces Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lowered its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 2.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 702,838 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 17,080 shares during the quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $27,889,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. McAdam LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 11,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Bank of America by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $805,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in Bank of America by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC now owns 7,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 94,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,742,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of BAC opened at $39.23 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $306.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.57, a PEG 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. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $39.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.09. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $44.44.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a $0.26 dividend. 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 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.99%.

Bank of America declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on BAC. StockNews.com cut Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Bank of America from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Bank of America from $49.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the company’s 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 owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 147,650,481 shares of company stock worth $6,050,547,676. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.