Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by ASB Consultores LLC

ASB Consultores LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 42.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,373 shares during the period. ASB Consultores LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 36,124,363 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 9,879,524 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 2,935,040 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 165,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 5,488,790 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC opened at $40.87 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $24.96 and a 52-week high of $44.44. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.82. The company has a market cap of $319.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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 given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 129,780,724 shares of company stock valued at $5,342,589,705. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler Companies upgraded shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One equities 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.