Financial Avengers Inc. Trims Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Financial Avengers Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 220,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,074 shares during the quarter. Bank of America accounts for about 4.3% of Financial Avengers Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Financial Avengers Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $8,741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 525.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares during the period. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total transaction of $465,811,996.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 835,908,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,088,345,979.30. This trade represents a 1.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 55,223,897 shares of company stock valued at $2,232,505,985. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE BAC opened at $45.77 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $43.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.33. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $30.45 and a 1 year high of $48.08. The company has a market cap of $351.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.64, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Phillip Securities upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays upped their target price on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.92.

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.