Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Trading Down 0.6% After Insider Selling

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)’s stock price dropped 0.6% on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $38.72 and last traded at $38.99. Approximately 4,462,038 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 38,968,992 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.23.

Specifically, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 1,722,523 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.40, for a total transaction of $67,867,406.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 794,120,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,288,363,972.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 4,985,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $197,477,754.33. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 797,683,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,596,235,790.27. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 3,915,126 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.52, for a total transaction of $154,725,779.52. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 802,668,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,721,473,347.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on BAC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twelve have given 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 an average price target of $42.27.

Bank of America Trading Up 2.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $313.68 billion, a PE ratio of 13.88, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $39.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.12.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. Analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 35.99%.

Bank of America announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BAC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Bank of America by 5.9% in the 1st 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 during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 360.9% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 37,290,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,255,514,000 after purchasing an additional 29,198,846 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Bank of America by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 104,030,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,502,720,000 after purchasing an additional 9,879,524 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in Bank of America by 959.6% during the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 9,327,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $370,948,000 after buying an additional 8,447,091 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the 1st quarter worth about $261,923,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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. It operates in four segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), Global Banking, and Global Markets.