Waddell & Associates LLC Acquires 299 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Waddell & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 299 shares during the quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $328,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in Bank of America during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in Bank of America by 525.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 852 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 10,975,008 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 910,731,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,310,871,244.33. The trade was a 1.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 96,094,698 shares of company stock worth $3,876,350,805. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE:BAC opened at $47.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $29.32 and a 1-year high of $47.22. The company has a 50-day moving average of $42.24 and a 200 day moving average of $40.65. The firm has a market cap of $360.63 billion, a PE ratio of 17.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The company’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on BAC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.