Two Sigma Advisers LP Buys 10,175,100 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 31,021.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,207,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,175,100 shares during the quarter. Bank of America accounts for about 0.9% of Two Sigma Advisers LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Two Sigma Advisers LP’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $405,049,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 1.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 895,884 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $1,794,164,000 after acquiring an additional 1,731,003 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 2.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 601,211 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.4% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,042,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $676,264,000 after purchasing an additional 59,853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 23.6% in the second 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 in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 3,966,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.58, for a total value of $156,981,325.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 854,214,328 shares in the company, valued at $33,809,803,102.24. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 56,945,263 shares of company stock valued at $2,300,620,438 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $47.01 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $360.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.20. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $30.44 and a 1 year high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its 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. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The business 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 posted $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BAC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Phillip Securities upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.57.

Bank of America 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.