Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 6.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 351,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 24,393 shares during the quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $13,953,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 402.2% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 646 shares during the period. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Bank of America from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.27.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE BAC opened at $41.95 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $39.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.26. The stock has a market cap of $328.06 billion, a PE ratio of 14.52, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $24.96 and a fifty-two week high of $44.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The business had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.99%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Bank of America news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 160,921,082 shares of company stock worth $6,582,343,525. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.