Clarity Financial LLC Increases Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Clarity Financial LLC grew its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 82.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 14,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,495 shares during the quarter. Clarity Financial LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $571,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 402.2% in the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter worth $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% in 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 last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1,489.3% in the first quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 834 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $41.33 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $317.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.03, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $27.34 and a 1 year high of $44.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.26 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.52%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 37.82%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BAC. Barclays boosted their price target on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Piper Sandler Companies upgraded Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.69.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,035,018 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.65, for a total value of $199,638,463.70. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 928,460,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,813,476,231.35. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Bank of America news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,035,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.65, for a total transaction of $199,638,463.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 928,460,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,813,476,231.35. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 113,067,817 shares of company stock worth $4,548,518,070. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.