Taurus Asset Management LLC Trims Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Taurus Asset Management LLC lessened its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 4.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 522,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 25,000 shares during the quarter. Bank of America makes up about 2.0% of Taurus Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Taurus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $20,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 29,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,129,000 after acquiring an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 1st quarter worth approximately $17,064,000. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 1st quarter worth approximately $731,000. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 34.7% during the 1st quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 59,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,243,000 after buying an additional 15,241 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 17.6% during the first quarter. Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC now owns 9,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 1,470 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 10,975,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 910,731,659 shares in the company, valued at $36,310,871,244.33. This represents a 1.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 102,848,970 shares of company stock worth $4,145,103,288. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $46.75 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $29.22 and a 52 week high of $46.84. The stock has a market cap of $358.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.00, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.32.

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

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

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BAC shares. Barclays raised their price target on 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 lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.