Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by First Heartland Consultants Inc.

First Heartland Consultants Inc. cut its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 14,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,519 shares during the quarter. First Heartland Consultants Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BAC. McAdam LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 11,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $455,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Integrity Financial Corp WA boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Integrity Financial Corp WA now owns 14,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $590,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $805,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in Bank of America by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SNS Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC now owns 7,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,035,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.65, for a total value of $199,638,463.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 928,460,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,813,476,231.35. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,035,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.65, for a total value of $199,638,463.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 928,460,939 shares in the company, valued at $36,813,476,231.35. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,067,817 shares of company stock worth $4,548,518,070 in the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $45.88 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $41.00 and a 200 day moving average of $40.13. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $27.42 and a 12 month high of $46.52. The firm has a market cap of $352.03 billion, a PE ratio of 16.68, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.32. 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 (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

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

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.