Portside Wealth Group LLC Trims Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Portside Wealth Group LLC lowered its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 45,833 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,959 shares during the quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,819,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 27.1% in the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 98,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,734,000 after purchasing an additional 20,916 shares during the last quarter. Councilmark Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $771,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 37.7% in the 2nd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 54,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,163,000 after buying an additional 14,901 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in Bank of America by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 196,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,628,000 after purchasing an additional 20,309 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 39.7% in the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 9,941,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $395,381,000 after purchasing an additional 2,827,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $44.77 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $27.34 and a 12-month high of $45.55. The stock has a market cap of $343.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.96.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,183,829 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.31, for a total value of $203,776,317.99. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 937,246,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,843,142,343.43. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,183,829 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.31, for a total value of $203,776,317.99. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 937,246,053 shares in the company, valued at $36,843,142,343.43. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,067,817 shares of company stock worth $4,548,518,070 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Phillip Securities upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Cfra restated a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.97.

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.