Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Bought by WealthPLAN Partners LLC

WealthPLAN Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 2.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 717 shares during the quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Barometer Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,175,000. IMA Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the first quarter worth approximately $1,453,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Bank of America by 149.9% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $715,000 after purchasing an additional 12,744 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 2,935,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,601,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:BAC opened at $39.58 on Wednesday. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $24.96 and a one year high of $44.44. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.80. 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 $309.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The business’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

Bank of America declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in 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 usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Cfra restated a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price (up previously from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.22.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 114,391,986 shares of company stock worth $4,719,796,383. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Bank of America 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.