Wedmont Private Capital Has $2.34 Million Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Wedmont Private Capital trimmed its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 621 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,339,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,437,936,000 after buying an additional 36,124,363 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Bank of America by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 104,030,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,502,720,000 after acquiring an additional 9,879,524 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Bank of America by 1.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 57,539,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,288,347,000 after acquiring an additional 895,884 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.4% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 37,654,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,267,820,000 after purchasing an additional 5,488,790 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on BAC. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Bank of America from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Bank of America from $49.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Cfra reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.27.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.6 %

BAC opened at $40.18 on Thursday. 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 $314.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.90, 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 current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $39.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.20.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.99%.

Bank of America declared 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 outstanding 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 generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total transaction of $530,145,635.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 998,961,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,085,191,337.27. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $530,145,635.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 998,961,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,085,191,337.27. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 156,918,857 shares of company stock worth $6,421,694,213 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Company 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.