Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. lowered its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 15.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,071,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 194,302 shares during the quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $42,514,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 22,341,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $886,499,000 after acquiring an additional 601,211 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 4.1% during the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 42,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,667,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 6.1% in the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 30,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,750 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the third quarter worth $14,717,000. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 64.7% in the 3rd quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 69,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,742,000 after buying an additional 27,153 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $47.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,176,549 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,482,008. 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 50-day moving average price of $42.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.76. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $29.32 and a fifty-two week high of $47.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $363.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.27, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 37.82%.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 85,027,690 shares of company stock worth $3,435,115,636 in the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a 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 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on 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, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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, November 15th. One 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.26.

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.