Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Purchased by Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 205,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,186 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $8,136,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Bank of America by 5.9% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 57,539,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,288,347,000 after acquiring an additional 895,884 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,354,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,530,241,000 after acquiring an additional 165,070 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,042,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $676,264,000 after acquiring an additional 59,853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 23.6% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 16,260,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $646,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,109,197 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,035,018 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.65, for a total transaction of $199,638,463.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 928,460,939 shares in the company, valued at $36,813,476,231.35. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,035,018 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.65, for a total value of $199,638,463.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 928,460,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,813,476,231.35. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,067,817 shares of company stock valued at $4,548,518,070 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Cfra reissued a “sell” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.69.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.0 %

BAC opened at $46.06 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $353.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.32. 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 12 month low of $27.42 and a 12 month high of $46.52.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan 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 buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

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.