Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Has $44.84 Million Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lowered its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 20.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,127,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 294,732 shares during the quarter. Bank of America makes up approximately 0.4% of Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $44,838,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. McAdam LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 2.1% in the second quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 11,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $455,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $805,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC now owns 7,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 94,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,742,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 112,670,620 shares of company stock valued at $4,651,681,930. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $39.27. The stock had a trading volume of 1,778,932 shares, compared to its average volume of 39,105,250. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $40.30 and a 200-day moving average of $38.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $304.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-month high of $44.44.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is an increase 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 yield of 2.65%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on BAC. StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target (up previously from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.22.

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.