Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC Sells 13,401 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 78,261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,401 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,105,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of BAC. Black Diamond Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Black Diamond Financial LLC now owns 25,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $997,000 after purchasing an additional 2,103 shares during the last quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 59,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,350,000 after buying an additional 3,084 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 5.0% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,206,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,888,000 after purchasing an additional 57,020 shares in the last quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co now owns 43,951 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,744,000 after buying an additional 5,817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intellectus Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 51,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,040,000 after buying an additional 7,182 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This represents a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,035,018 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.65, for a total transaction of $199,638,463.70. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 928,460,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,813,476,231.35. This represents a 0.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 107,883,988 shares of company stock worth $4,344,741,752. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BAC. Phillip Securities raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. 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 report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.26.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC stock opened at $45.68 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $350.50 billion, a PE ratio of 16.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $29.22 and a 1-year high of $46.52. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $41.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.22. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.82%.

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.