Piscataqua Savings Bank Cuts Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Piscataqua Savings Bank cut its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 860 shares during the period. Bank of America accounts for 1.9% of Piscataqua Savings Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Piscataqua Savings Bank’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 5.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,437,936,000 after acquiring an additional 36,124,363 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 959.6% during the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 9,327,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $370,948,000 after purchasing an additional 8,447,091 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at about $261,923,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 1,432.1% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,151,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,627,000 after purchasing an additional 5,749,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 290.7% in the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 7,114,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $269,763,000 after purchasing an additional 5,293,000 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bank of America news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total transaction of $530,145,635.91. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 998,961,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,085,191,337.27. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,230,389 shares of company stock worth $6,023,064,684 in the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BAC shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Cfra reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.27.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC stock opened at $42.14 on Wednesday. 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 1-year low of $24.96 and a 1-year high of $44.44. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $39.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.33. The company has a market capitalization of $329.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.58, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The company’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. 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 2.47%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.99%.

Bank of America 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.