Element Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 281,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,189,000. Bank of America makes up 0.9% of Element Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brio Consultants LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth $227,000. Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its stake in Bank of America by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 17,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $585,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Rollins Financial raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Rollins Financial now owns 441,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,879,000 after purchasing an additional 48,998 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 44.4% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 11,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $393,000 after purchasing an additional 3,585 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 34,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,172,000 after purchasing an additional 3,681 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Bank of America news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 1,721,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.57, for a total transaction of $68,114,452.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 861,175,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,076,699,933.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 114,391,986 shares of company stock valued at $4,719,796,383 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Cfra reissued a “sell” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.22.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:BAC opened at $38.65 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $44.44. 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 company has a market cap of $299.91 billion, a PE ratio of 13.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s 50 day moving average is $40.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.70.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock 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 repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 35.99%.

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.