Cascade Investment Group Inc. Has $317,000 Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Cascade Investment Group Inc. increased its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 31.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,897 shares during the period. Cascade Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $317,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Bank of America by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,437,936,000 after purchasing an additional 36,124,363 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew 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 worth $2,288,347,000 after purchasing an additional 895,884 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in 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 in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in Bank of America by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 21,465,791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $813,983,000 after purchasing an additional 954,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew 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 worth $646,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,109,197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE BAC opened at $42.14 on Wednesday. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $24.96 and a 1 year high of $44.44. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $329.55 billion, a PE ratio of 14.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.81. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. Analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total transaction of $530,145,635.91. Following the sale, the insider now owns 998,961,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,085,191,337.27. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total transaction of $530,145,635.91. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 998,961,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,085,191,337.27. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,230,389 shares of company stock worth $6,023,064,684. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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 target price on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Cfra reissued a “sell” rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.27.

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.