Empire Life Investments Inc. Lowers Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Empire Life Investments Inc. reduced its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 10.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 677,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 75,662 shares during the quarter. Bank of America makes up about 1.6% of Empire Life Investments Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Empire Life Investments Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $26,864,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BAC. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in Bank of America by 27.1% during the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 98,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,734,000 after acquiring an additional 20,916 shares during the period. Councilmark Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Bank of America in the 1st quarter worth approximately $771,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 37.7% during the 2nd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 54,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,163,000 after buying an additional 14,901 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 11.5% during the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 196,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,628,000 after buying an additional 20,309 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 39.7% in the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 9,941,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $395,381,000 after buying an additional 2,827,700 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on BAC shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays increased 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. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.69.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $41.76 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $26.59 and a twelve month 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.82. The firm has a market cap of $320.42 billion, a PE ratio of 15.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 37.82%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total value of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,606,297,408.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 113,078,718 shares of company stock valued at $4,548,920,425 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.