Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Waddell & Associates LLC

Waddell & Associates LLC decreased its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,973 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 351 shares during the quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $317,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 402.2% in the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the period. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 839.0% during the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the first quarter worth about $33,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BAC. Piper Sandler Companies raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Cfra reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.22.

Bank of America Stock Down 2.8 %

NYSE BAC traded down $1.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $38.76. 47,007,588 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 39,322,148. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $24.96 and a 12 month high of $44.44. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.52. The company has a market capitalization of $303.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.41, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.33. 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 (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (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 revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.99%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider now owns 998,961,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,085,191,337.27. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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 on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 998,961,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,085,191,337.27. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 112,670,620 shares of company stock valued at $4,651,681,930. 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.