Empirical Finance LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 2.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 242,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,794 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $9,603,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Global Investments raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 237.6% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 51,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,035,000 after purchasing an additional 36,089 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its position in Bank of America by 125.8% in the 3rd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 61,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,421,000 after acquiring an additional 33,983 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in Bank of America by 27.1% in the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 98,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,734,000 after acquiring an additional 20,916 shares during the period. Councilmark Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $771,000. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 37.7% in the 2nd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 54,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,163,000 after acquiring an additional 14,901 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of BAC opened at $45.68 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $29.22 and a 12-month high of $46.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $350.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $41.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.22.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

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 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 2.28%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Bank of America declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on BAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Phillip Securities raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.26.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $465,811,996.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 835,908,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,088,345,979.30. This represents a 1.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 107,883,988 shares of company stock worth $4,344,741,752. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.