Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Purchased by Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 721,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 135,923 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $28,623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Bank of America by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 57,539,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,288,347,000 after buying an additional 895,884 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,215,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,794,164,000 after buying an additional 1,731,003 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 22,341,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $886,499,000 after buying an additional 601,211 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Bank of America by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,042,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $676,264,000 after buying an additional 59,853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 23.6% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 16,260,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $646,693,000 after buying an additional 3,109,197 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 3,966,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.58, for a total transaction of $156,981,325.24. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 854,214,328 shares in the company, valued at $33,809,803,102.24. This trade represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,945,263 shares of company stock worth $2,300,620,438. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $47.01 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $43.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.20. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $30.44 and a 52 week high of $48.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $360.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.09, a PEG ratio of 1.58 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. Bank of America’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.57.

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.