Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Purchased by Smead Capital Management Inc.

Smead Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 3.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,935,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 267,661 shares during the period. Bank of America comprises 4.5% of Smead Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Smead Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Bank of America worth $314,871,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BAC. Verity & Verity LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 22,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $895,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137 shares during the period. Tranquility Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.3% during the third quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 18,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $725,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the period. Aviance Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.5% during the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 35,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,400,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $772,000 after acquiring an additional 2,246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nixon Peabody Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 300,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,924,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $46.72 on Tuesday. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $29.32 and a 52-week high of $47.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $358.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a fifty day moving average of $41.64 and a 200-day moving average of $40.44. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

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

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 10,975,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.87, for a total value of $437,573,568.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 910,731,659 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,310,871,244.33. This represents a 1.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 102,848,970 shares of company stock valued at $4,145,103,288 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised shares of 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.