Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Main Street Group LTD

Main Street Group LTD reduced its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 47.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,857 shares during the period. Main Street Group LTD’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $256,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Barometer Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $2,175,000. IMA Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,453,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Bank of America by 149.9% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 12,744 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 7.8% in the fourth 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 period. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 59,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,012,000 after buying an additional 6,416 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of BAC stock traded down $1.11 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $38.76. 47,007,588 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 39,322,148. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $40.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.49. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $24.96 and a 1-year high of $44.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $303.12 billion, a PE ratio of 13.42, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.35.

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

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy 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 stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 35.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the company’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 directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 112,670,620 shares of company stock worth $4,651,681,930. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on BAC shares. Piper Sandler upgraded Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies upgraded shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.22.

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.