Berkshire Hathaway Inc Sells 11,422,560 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Stock

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total value of $465,811,996.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 835,908,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,088,345,979.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, September 17th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 3,966,178 shares of Bank of America stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.58, for a total value of $156,981,325.24.
• On Monday, September 9th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 1,721,366 shares of Bank of America stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.57, for a total value of $68,114,452.62.
• On Thursday, September 5th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,031,014 shares of Bank of America stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.28, for a total value of $202,649,243.92.
• On Tuesday, September 3rd, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,031,639 shares of Bank of America stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.66, for a total value of $326,566,441.74.
• On Friday, August 30th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 7,938,699 shares of Bank of America stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.61, for a total value of $322,390,566.39.
• On Wednesday, August 28th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 7,081,075 shares of Bank of America stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.95, for a total value of $282,888,946.25.
• On Monday, August 26th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 10,975,008 shares of Bank of America stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.87, for a total value of $437,573,568.96.
• On Friday, August 23rd, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,754,272 shares of Bank of America stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.79, for a total value of $268,752,482.88.
• On Monday, August 19th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,035,018 shares of Bank of America stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.65, for a total value of $199,638,463.70.
• On Thursday, August 15th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,183,829 shares of Bank of America stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.31, for a total value of $203,776,317.99.

Bank of America Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of BAC opened at $40.28 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $24.96 and a one year high of $44.44. The company has a market cap of $315.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. The company 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%. Bank of America’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 paid a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.99%.

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated 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 often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 402.2% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on BAC. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Cfra reissued a “sell” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.