Diversify Wealth Management LLC Invests $2.03 Million in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Diversify Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 55,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,028,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BAC. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $3,734,407,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 valued at $24,437,936,000 after purchasing an additional 36,124,363 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in Bank of America by 360.9% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 37,290,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,255,514,000 after purchasing an additional 29,198,846 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted 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 valued at $3,502,720,000 after purchasing an additional 9,879,524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position in Bank of America by 959.6% during the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 9,327,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $370,948,000 after purchasing an additional 8,447,091 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.3 %

Bank of America stock opened at $38.65 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $44.44. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $299.91 billion, a PE ratio of 13.37, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.70.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 35.99%.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Seaport Res Ptn raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.22.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 114,391,986 shares of company stock worth $4,719,796,383 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.