Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 91,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,704 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,626,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in Bank of America by 27.1% during the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 98,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,734,000 after buying an additional 20,916 shares during the period. Councilmark Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter worth approximately $771,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 37.7% in the 2nd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 54,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,163,000 after purchasing an additional 14,901 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in Bank of America by 11.5% in the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 196,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,628,000 after purchasing an additional 20,309 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the third quarter worth $9,670,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,183,829 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.31, for a total value of $203,776,317.99. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 937,246,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,843,142,343.43. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,183,829 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.31, for a total value of $203,776,317.99. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 937,246,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,843,142,343.43. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 113,067,817 shares of company stock worth $4,548,518,070 in the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their price target on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.69.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $45.15 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $27.34 and a 1-year high of $45.55. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $40.90 and a 200 day moving average of $40.04. The company has a market capitalization of $346.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.82%.

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.