8,121 Shares in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Purchased by MQS Management LLC

MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 8,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $322,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in Bank of America during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 1,489.3% during the 1st quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 834 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE BAC opened at $45.91 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $41.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.22. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $29.20 and a 12 month high of $46.52. 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 $352.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on BAC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.69.

Insider Activity

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total transaction of $465,811,996.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 835,908,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,088,345,979.30. This represents a 1.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 107,883,988 shares of company stock valued at $4,344,741,752. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.