Avestar Capital LLC Buys 1,659 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Avestar Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 42,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,659 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,667,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BAC. Accent Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 43.0% in the third quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 39,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,567,000 after buying an additional 11,873 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 237.6% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 51,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,035,000 after purchasing an additional 36,089 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 125.8% during the 3rd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 61,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,421,000 after purchasing an additional 33,983 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. grew its stake in Bank of America by 173.7% during the third quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 583,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,150,000 after purchasing an additional 370,275 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in Bank of America by 27.1% in the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 98,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,734,000 after purchasing an additional 20,916 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.1 %

Bank of America stock opened at $47.46 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $364.15 billion, a PE ratio of 17.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $29.32 and a fifty-two week high of $47.74. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.76.

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

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 37.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective 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, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 7,081,075 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.95, for a total transaction of $282,888,946.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 896,719,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,823,936,074.95. This trade represents a 0.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 85,027,690 shares of company stock valued at $3,435,115,636 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.