MRA Advisory Group Makes New Investment in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

MRA Advisory Group acquired a new position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Brio Consultants LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 17,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $585,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Rollins Financial lifted its position in Bank of America by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Rollins Financial now owns 441,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,879,000 after acquiring an additional 48,998 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 44.4% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 11,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $393,000 after acquiring an additional 3,585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $75,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,031,014 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.28, for a total value of $202,649,243.92. Following the sale, the insider now owns 863,977,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,801,017,687.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Bank of America news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,031,014 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.28, for a total value of $202,649,243.92. Following the sale, the insider now owns 863,977,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,801,017,687.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 112,670,620 shares of company stock worth $4,651,681,930 in the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BAC shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Cfra reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target (up previously from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to 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 %

BAC opened at $38.76 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.52. The company has a market capitalization of $303.12 billion, a PE ratio of 13.41, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $24.96 and a 1-year high of $44.44. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

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

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.