Keynote Financial Services LLC Trims Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Keynote Financial Services LLC reduced its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 24,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 320 shares during the period. Keynote Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $975,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 20,916 shares during the period. Councilmark Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at $771,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of 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 worth $2,163,000 after buying an additional 14,901 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 196,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,628,000 after acquiring an additional 20,309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in Bank of America by 39.7% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 9,941,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $395,381,000 after acquiring an additional 2,827,700 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective for the company 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 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target 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. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.97.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

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

Bank of America Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of BAC stock opened at $44.77 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.96. The stock has a market cap of $343.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $27.34 and a 12 month high of $45.55. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 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 analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. Bank of America’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.26 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 given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Bank of America announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management 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.