Menard Financial Group LLC Acquires 2,804 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Menard Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,804 shares during the quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $809,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Accent Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 43.0% in the third quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 39,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,567,000 after purchasing an additional 11,873 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments grew its stake in Bank of America by 237.6% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 51,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,035,000 after buying an additional 36,089 shares during the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP raised its holdings in Bank of America by 125.8% in the 3rd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 61,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,421,000 after acquiring an additional 33,983 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A. lifted its position in Bank of America by 173.7% during the third quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 583,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,150,000 after acquiring an additional 370,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 647.7% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,823,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,363,000 after acquiring an additional 1,579,767 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $46.79 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $43.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $359.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.33. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $30.33 and a fifty-two week high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total transaction of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. This trade represents a 1.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 61,976,277 shares of company stock worth $2,503,269,682 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on BAC shares. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.57.

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.