B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Sells 28,747 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 228,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 28,747 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $9,075,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of BAC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 36,124,363 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 10.5% during the 4th 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 buying an additional 9,879,524 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 57,539,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,288,347,000 after acquiring an additional 895,884 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position 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 valued at $1,530,241,000 after acquiring an additional 165,070 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 5,488,790 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Piper Sandler Companies raised Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Cfra restated a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 3,915,126 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.52, for a total transaction of $154,725,779.52. Following the sale, the insider now owns 802,668,860 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,721,473,347.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 3,915,126 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.52, for a total transaction of $154,725,779.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 802,668,860 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,721,473,347.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,942,405 shares of company stock worth $5,785,202,516 in the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE BAC opened at $39.40 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $308.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company’s 50 day moving average is $39.62 and its 200-day moving average is $39.04. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-month high of $44.44.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. Bank of America’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.99%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program 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 programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.