Trust Co. of Vermont Lowers Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Trust Co. of Vermont reduced its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 3.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 109,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,436 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $4,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 5.9% during the first 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 period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 57,539,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,288,347,000 after purchasing an additional 895,884 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,530,241,000 after purchasing an additional 165,070 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 4.7% during the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 21,465,791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $813,983,000 after purchasing an additional 954,885 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 23.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,109,197 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC opened at $42.61 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $24.96 and a 52-week high of $44.44. 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 company has a market cap of $333.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $39.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.38.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.99%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,420,599 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.39, for a total value of $229,779,191.61. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 980,061,561 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,544,809,570.79. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,420,599 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.39, for a total value of $229,779,191.61. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 980,061,561 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,544,809,570.79. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was 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 owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 144,633,120 shares of company stock worth $5,862,871,640 over the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.62.

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.