Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Bought by Tranquility Partners LLC

Tranquility Partners LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 2.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in Bank of America by 525.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,754,272 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 921,706,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,674,708,279.93. This represents a 0.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 102,848,970 shares of company stock worth $4,145,103,288 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $46.72 on Tuesday. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $29.32 and a 52-week high of $47.02. The company has a market capitalization of $358.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.32. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on BAC. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note 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 research note on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.