Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Sells 2,542 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 860,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,542 shares during the period. Bank of America makes up approximately 0.8% of Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $34,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 5.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,437,936,000 after acquiring an additional 36,124,363 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 104,030,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,502,720,000 after purchasing an additional 9,879,524 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 40,508,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,363,928,000 after purchasing an additional 2,935,040 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,354,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,530,241,000 after purchasing an additional 165,070 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 37,654,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,267,820,000 after buying an additional 5,488,790 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 114,391,986 shares of company stock valued at $4,719,796,383. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BAC. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.22.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $38.65 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $40.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.74. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $24.96 and a 12 month high of $44.44. The company has a market cap of $299.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 35.99%.

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.