Natixis Advisors LLC Acquires 165,088 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,393,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 165,088 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Bank of America worth $214,016,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 249,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,909,000 after acquiring an additional 23,617 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 2.0% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 242,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,603,000 after purchasing an additional 4,794 shares during the period. Black Diamond Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 9.1% in the third quarter. Black Diamond Financial LLC now owns 25,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $997,000 after purchasing an additional 2,103 shares during the last quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Bank of America by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 59,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,350,000 after purchasing an additional 3,084 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Bank of America by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,206,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,888,000 after buying an additional 57,020 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,035,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.65, for a total transaction of $199,638,463.70. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 928,460,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,813,476,231.35. This represents a 0.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 107,883,988 shares of company stock worth $4,344,741,752 over the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Bank of America Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $46.75 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $29.22 and a 52 week high of $46.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $358.71 billion, a PE ratio of 17.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s 50 day moving average is $41.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.26.

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.