Hilton Capital Management LLC Invests $3.98 Million in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Hilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 100,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,984,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America in the second quarter valued at $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in Bank of America by 525.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 10,975,008 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.87, for a total value of $437,573,568.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 910,731,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,310,871,244.33. This trade represents a 1.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 102,848,970 shares of company stock worth $4,145,103,288 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $46.41 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $41.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.51. The stock has a market cap of $356.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.88, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $29.32 and a 12-month high of $47.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BAC. Phillip Securities raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.26.

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.