Accredited Investors Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Accredited Investors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,211 shares during the quarter. Accredited Investors Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $965,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 29,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,129,000 after acquiring an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Davis R M Inc. grew its holdings in Bank of America by 1.5% during the first quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 459,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,424,000 after purchasing an additional 6,904 shares during the period. Rockport Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the first quarter worth about $629,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 15.7% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 867,943 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,912,000 after buying an additional 117,646 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 39.1% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,151,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $498,710,000 after buying an additional 3,696,948 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,754,272 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.79, for a total transaction of $268,752,482.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 921,706,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,674,708,279.93. This represents a 0.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 107,883,988 shares of company stock worth $4,344,741,752. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $46.75 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.35. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $29.22 and a 52 week high of $46.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $358.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.00, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on BAC. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.26.

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.