Berkshire Bank Has $2.44 Million Stock Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Berkshire Bank reduced its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 85,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 438 shares during the period. Berkshire Bank’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Spears Abacus Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Spears Abacus Advisors LLC now owns 49,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,630,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 39,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,309,000 after buying an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 14,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $471,000 after buying an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Fort Point Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 2.2% in the first quarter. Fort Point Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,918 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $656,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pasadena Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.0% in the first quarter. Pasadena Private Wealth LLC now owns 34,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $995,000 after buying an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. 68.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BAC. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $41.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. HSBC started coverage on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, September 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, September 12th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.98.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of BAC stock opened at $28.76 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market cap of $228.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.37. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $26.32 and a 12 month high of $38.60.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $25.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.98 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 19.97% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.73 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 31st. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Dean C. Athanasia sold 77,806 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.48, for a total transaction of $2,449,332.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 353,971 shares in the company, valued at $11,143,007.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.53, for a total transaction of $2,364,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 185,108 shares in the company, valued at $5,836,455.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Dean C. Athanasia sold 77,806 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.48, for a total transaction of $2,449,332.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 353,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,143,007.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% 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. Its Consumer Banking segment offers traditional and money market savings accounts, certificates of deposit and IRAs, noninterest-and interest-bearing checking accounts, and investment accounts and products; and credit and debit cards, residential mortgages, and home equity loans, as well as direct and indirect loans, such as automotive, recreational vehicle, and consumer personal loans.