Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading Down 0.5% After Insider Selling

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) shares traded down 0.5% on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $42.11 and last traded at $42.38. 9,128,959 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 38,758,570 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.60.

Specifically, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total transaction of $369,952,591.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler upgraded 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 research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Bank of America from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.69.

Bank of America Price Performance

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 stock has a market cap of $331.04 billion, a PE ratio of 14.65, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $39.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.41.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.99%.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 36,124,363 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.6% during 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 buying an additional 895,884 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 165,070 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 4.7% during the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 21,465,791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $813,983,000 after acquiring an additional 954,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 23.6% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 16,260,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $646,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,109,197 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.