Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 17.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,602,629 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,254,902 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Bank of America worth $341,352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the second quarter worth about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 839.0% during the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $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 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 525.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 852 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BAC. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target 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, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.26.
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NYSE BAC opened at $46.41 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $41.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.51. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $29.32 and a 52 week high of $47.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $356.10 billion, a PE ratio of 16.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.32.
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The business 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 posted $0.90 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America's payout ratio is 37.82%.
Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.
In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 2,305,415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.27, for a total value of $90,533,647.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 812,041,811 shares in the company, valued at $31,888,881,917.97. This represents a 0.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 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 approximately $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 102,848,970 shares of company stock worth $4,145,103,288. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.
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.
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