Vista Capital Partners Inc. Sells 336 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Vista Capital Partners Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 4.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 336 shares during the quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $312,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 5.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 36,124,363 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Bank of America by 1.6% during the 2nd 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 raised its position in Bank of America by 0.4% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 23.6% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 16,260,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $646,693,000 after buying an additional 3,109,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,415,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $611,692,000 after buying an additional 569,385 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This trade 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 this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 2,305,415 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.27, for a total transaction of $90,533,647.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 812,041,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,888,881,917.97. This represents 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 valued at $4,548,518,070. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Bank of America Price Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $44.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $343.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.96. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $27.34 and a 1 year high of $45.55.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. Bank of America’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 37.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on BAC shares. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Cfra reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.69.

Bank of America Company 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.