Verity & Verity LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Verity & Verity LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 5.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 22,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,137 shares during the quarter. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $895,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 525.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC stock opened at $46.72 on Tuesday. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $29.32 and a 52-week high of $47.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $41.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $358.48 billion, a PE ratio of 16.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. Bank of America’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 10,975,008 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.87, for a total value of $437,573,568.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 910,731,659 shares in the company, valued at $36,310,871,244.33. This trade represents a 1.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. This represents a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 102,848,970 shares of company stock valued at $4,145,103,288. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.26.

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