Empowered Funds LLC Buys 23,617 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 10.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 249,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,617 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $9,909,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 1,489.3% during the first 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. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total transaction of $369,952,591.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. The trade was a 1.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 107,883,988 shares of company stock worth $4,344,741,752. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $46.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $358.71 billion, a PE ratio of 17.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.32. 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 12-month low of $29.22 and a 12-month high of $46.84. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $41.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.33.

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

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding 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 shares are undervalued.

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 paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 37.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.26.

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.