Lewis Asset Management LLC Purchases Shares of 5,235 Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Lewis Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 5,235 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $24,437,936,000 after purchasing an additional 36,124,363 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.6% during the second 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 position in shares of Bank of America by 0.4% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,354,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,530,241,000 after acquiring an additional 165,070 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 23.6% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 16,260,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $646,693,000 after acquiring an additional 3,109,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Bank of America by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,415,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $611,692,000 after acquiring an additional 569,385 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Price Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $44.77 on Friday. 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 one year low of $27.34 and a one year high of $45.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $343.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.28, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $40.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.96.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.26 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.82%.

Bank of America declared that its board 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 repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,183,829 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.31, for a total value of $203,776,317.99. Following the sale, the insider now owns 937,246,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,843,142,343.43. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Bank of America news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,183,829 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.31, for a total transaction of $203,776,317.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 937,246,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,843,142,343.43. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,067,817 shares of company stock valued at $4,548,518,070 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.