Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,632,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 194,303 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.56% of Bank of America worth $1,691,639,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BAC. McAdam LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 2.1% in the second quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 11,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Integrity Financial Corp WA increased its holdings 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 valued at $590,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $805,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 15.1% in the second quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SNS Financial Group LLC grew its position in Bank of America by 3.3% during 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of BAC stock opened at $46.36 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $355.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $29.32 and a 52-week high of $47.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $41.92 and a 200-day moving average of $40.55.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. Bank of America’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,606,297,408.10. This trade represents a 1.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. This represents a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 102,848,970 shares of company stock worth $4,145,103,288. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Phillip Securities raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One equities research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.26.

Bank of America 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.