Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,415,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 569,385 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.20% of Bank of America worth $611,692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,437,936,000 after acquiring an additional 36,124,363 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 8,447,091 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 1st quarter worth approximately $261,923,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 5,749,567 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 5,293,000 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Stock Up 8.4 %

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $45.39 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $348.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $40.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $27.34 and a 1-year high of $45.55.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.26 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.82%.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total value of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total value of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 113,067,817 shares of company stock worth $4,548,518,070. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BAC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Cfra reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.97.

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.