Searle & CO. Sells 51,653 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Searle & CO. cut its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 21.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 184,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 51,653 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises approximately 1.8% of Searle & CO.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Searle & CO.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $7,339,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 5.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,437,936,000 after buying an additional 36,124,363 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in 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 worth $370,948,000 after purchasing an additional 8,447,091 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the 1st quarter valued at about $261,923,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1,432.1% in the 2nd 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 buying an additional 5,749,567 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 290.7% during 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 buying an additional 5,293,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays increased their target price on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Phillip Securities raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Cfra reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.69.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.1 %

BAC stock traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $42.33. The stock had a trading volume of 9,162,035 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,648,824. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-month high of $44.44. The firm has a market cap of $331.04 billion, a PE ratio of 14.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.51. 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 (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

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

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total transaction of $369,952,591.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total value of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 132,863,500 shares of company stock worth $5,363,830,468. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.