Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Buys 1,447 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,447 shares during the period. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,076,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. McAdam LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 11,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Bank of America by 1.2% in the second quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $805,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC now owns 7,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 94,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,742,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC opened at $39.47 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $40.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $306.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $44.44.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 35.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Bank of America news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 112,670,620 shares of company stock valued at $4,651,681,930 over the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler Companies raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Cfra restated a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.22.

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.