Community Trust & Investment Co. Sells 495 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Community Trust & Investment Co. cut its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 495 shares during the period. Community Trust & Investment Co.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 108,111.3% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 193,168,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,397,725,000 after purchasing an additional 192,989,515 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,436,543,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 127,177,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,212,128,000 after buying an additional 23,532,190 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc increased its holdings in Bank of America by 2.3% during the first quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 1,032,852,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,539,567,000 after buying an additional 22,751,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Snider Financial Group raised its position in Bank of America by 9,477.3% during the first quarter. Snider Financial Group now owns 14,448,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,956,000 after acquiring an additional 14,297,496 shares in the last quarter. 68.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC stock traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $28.67. The stock had a trading volume of 5,519,899 shares, compared to its average volume of 48,936,555. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $227.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $26.32 and a 52 week 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.04. Bank of America had a net margin of 19.97% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The business had revenue of $25.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.98 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.41 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 31st. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.59%.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 75,000 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 185,108 shares in the company, valued at $5,836,455.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Bank of America news, insider Dean C. Athanasia sold 77,806 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.48, for a total transaction of $2,449,332.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 353,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,143,007.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider James P. Demare sold 75,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.53, for a total value of $2,364,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 185,108 shares in the company, valued at $5,836,455.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BAC. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, September 12th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Bank of America from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 18th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Bank of America from $41.00 to $40.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Bank of America from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.98.

About Bank of America

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.