Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Bought by Payden & Rygel

Payden & Rygel lifted its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 669.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 343,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 298,500 shares during the quarter. Payden & Rygel’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $13,614,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors 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 grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 646 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in Bank of America by 525.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 852 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $46.06 on Thursday. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $29.32 and a 12 month high of $47.02. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $353.41 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.32. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $41.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.55.

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

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase 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 buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.82%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 2,305,415 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.27, for a total transaction of $90,533,647.05. Following the sale, the insider now owns 812,041,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,888,881,917.97. This represents a 0.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 102,848,970 shares of company stock worth $4,145,103,288. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays boosted their target price on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.26.

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.