New Century Financial Group LLC Takes Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

New Century Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 13,917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $553,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 402.2% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 839.0% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the period. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $39.23 on Wednesday. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $24.96 and a one year high of $44.44. The company has a market cap 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 50 day moving average price is $39.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.09.

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, 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 company had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 35.99%.

Bank of America announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback 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 reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on BAC shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 3,915,126 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.52, for a total value of $154,725,779.52. Following the sale, the insider now owns 802,668,860 shares in the company, valued at $31,721,473,347.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 3,915,126 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.52, for a total value 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,942,405 shares of company stock worth $5,785,202,516 over the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.