Martingale Asset Management L P Grows Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Martingale Asset Management L P lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1,465.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 149,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 139,870 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $5,929,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BAC. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 959.6% during the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 9,327,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $370,948,000 after buying an additional 8,447,091 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 1,432.1% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,151,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,627,000 after buying an additional 5,749,567 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 3,550.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,547,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,804,560,000 after buying an additional 4,423,215 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new position in Bank of America in the second quarter valued at about $127,252,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 23.6% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 16,260,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $646,693,000 after acquiring an additional 3,109,197 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on BAC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.26.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $47.52 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $30.04 and a 12-month high of $48.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $43.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $364.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results 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. The firm 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%. The firm’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders 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 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total transaction of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. This trade represents a 1.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 70,007,916 shares of company stock worth $2,829,836,123 in the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.