GLOBALT Investments LLC GA Grows Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

GLOBALT Investments LLC GA raised its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 238,096 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,751 shares during the quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $9,448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BAC. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 959.6% during the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 9,327,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $370,948,000 after acquiring an additional 8,447,091 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter worth approximately $261,923,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1,432.1% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,151,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $244,627,000 after acquiring an additional 5,749,567 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 290.7% during the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 7,114,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $269,763,000 after acquiring an additional 5,293,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 3,550.7% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 4,423,215 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $46.75 on Monday. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $29.22 and a twelve month high of $46.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $358.71 billion, a PE ratio of 17.00, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.32.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The business 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 company’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 37.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. This represents a 1.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This represents a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 102,848,970 shares of company stock worth $4,145,103,288. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Phillip Securities upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays boosted their target price on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, 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 note on Tuesday, September 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.26.

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.