Cornerstone Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Cornerstone Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 458,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 24,700 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $18,223,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barometer Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $2,175,000. IMA Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Bank of America in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,453,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 149.9% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $715,000 after purchasing an additional 12,744 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 40,508,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,363,928,000 after purchasing an additional 2,935,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at $3,601,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $38.65 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $299.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $24.96 and a 1-year high of $44.44.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The business had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Cfra reissued a “sell” rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price (up previously from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.22.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Bank of America news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total transaction of $530,145,635.91. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 998,961,079 shares in the company, valued at $43,085,191,337.27. 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 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.