First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown Sells 994 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown lowered its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 2.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 36,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 994 shares during the quarter. First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in 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 in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 959.6% in 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 period. 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. grew its holdings in 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 worth $244,627,000 after purchasing an additional 5,749,567 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bank of America news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,035,018 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 928,460,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,813,476,231.35. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,067,817 shares of company stock worth $4,548,518,070 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Cfra restated a “sell” rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Phillip Securities raised 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 report on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.69.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $44.77 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $27.34 and a twelve month high of $45.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $343.51 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.32.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The firm’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.26 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 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 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.