CENTRAL TRUST Co Sells 31,098 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

CENTRAL TRUST Co cut its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 12.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 220,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 31,098 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $8,749,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. American National Bank & Trust Co. VA acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,322,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in Bank of America by 27.1% in the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 98,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,734,000 after acquiring an additional 20,916 shares during the period. Councilmark Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America during the first quarter worth $771,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 37.7% during the second quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 54,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,163,000 after acquiring an additional 14,901 shares during the period. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 196,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,628,000 after purchasing an additional 20,309 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler Companies upgraded shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays raised their price target on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Cfra reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.69.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC opened at $42.34 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $40.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $331.11 billion, a PE ratio of 14.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $44.44.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.99%.

Bank of America announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 purchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,264,601 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.20, for a total value of $216,901,561.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 961,646,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,619,844,658. This 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 accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,264,601 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.20, for a total transaction of $216,901,561.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 961,646,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,619,844,658. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 132,863,500 shares of company stock worth $5,363,830,468 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.