Argyle Capital Management Inc. Trims Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Argyle Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 90,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,284 shares during the quarter. Bank of America accounts for about 1.4% of Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BAC. McAdam LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 11,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $455,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Integrity Financial Corp WA boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.6% in the third quarter. Integrity Financial Corp WA now owns 14,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.2% during the second quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $805,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in Bank of America by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SNS Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC now owns 7,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BAC traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $42.56. 5,354,416 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 38,414,820. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $25.28 and a 1 year high of $44.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.66. The firm has a market cap of $330.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.26 EPS for the current year.

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

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.82%.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,993,520 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.63, for a total value of $284,146,717.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 948,077,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,520,401,217.15. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,993,520 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.63, for a total value of $284,146,717.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 948,077,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,520,401,217.15. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 120,072,238 shares of company stock valued at $4,833,067,143. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Piper Sandler Companies upgraded shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. 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. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.69.

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.