Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. decreased its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 26.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 145,789 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 51,318 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $5,798,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Argent Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 2.4% during the second quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 265,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,564,000 after acquiring an additional 6,131 shares during the period. Purus Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter valued at $205,000. True Vision MN LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter valued at $523,000. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,303 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares during the period. Finally, E Fund Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 45,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,802,000 after buying an additional 6,355 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:BAC opened at $39.64 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $309.96 billion, a PE ratio of 13.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $40.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.81.

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 net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 purchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend 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 is Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.99%.

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 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 114,391,986 shares of company stock valued at $4,719,796,383. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BAC. StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective (up previously from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.22.

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.