Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Howard Capital Management Group LLC

Howard Capital Management Group LLC cut its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 325 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $779,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 402.2% in 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 during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter valued at $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 646 shares during the period. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the first quarter valued at $33,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays raised their target price on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer lifted 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,606,297,408.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Bank of America news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total value of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,606,297,408.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 144,633,120 shares of company stock valued at $5,862,871,640. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of BAC stock opened at $42.61 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $39.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.38. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $24.96 and a twelve month high of $44.44. The company has a market capitalization of $333.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company 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 company posted $0.90 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.99%.

Bank of America declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.