Drake & Associates LLC Purchases 1,053 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Drake & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 9.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,053 shares during the period. Drake & Associates LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $482,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BAC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,437,936,000 after purchasing an additional 36,124,363 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 57,539,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,288,347,000 after buying an additional 895,884 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Bank of America by 0.4% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,354,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,530,241,000 after buying an additional 165,070 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 4.7% in the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 21,465,791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $813,983,000 after acquiring an additional 954,885 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 23.6% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 16,260,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $646,693,000 after acquiring an additional 3,109,197 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $42.61 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 $24.96 and a 12 month high of $44.44. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $333.23 billion, a PE ratio of 14.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors 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 2.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total value of $465,811,996.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 835,908,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,088,345,979.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total value of $465,811,996.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 835,908,435 shares in the company, valued at $34,088,345,979.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 144,633,120 shares of company stock worth $5,862,871,640. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.62.

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.