B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Takes Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 592,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $23,519,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in Bank of America by 959.6% in the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 9,327,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $370,948,000 after buying an additional 8,447,091 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Bank of America in the first quarter worth approximately $261,923,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Bank of America by 1,432.1% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,151,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $244,627,000 after buying an additional 5,749,567 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 3,550.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,547,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,804,560,000 after buying an additional 4,423,215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America in the second quarter worth approximately $127,252,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of BAC stock opened at $46.72 on Tuesday. 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 fifty day moving average price of $41.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.44. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $29.32 and a one year high of $47.02. The stock has a market cap of $358.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BAC. StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 10,975,008 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.87, for a total value of $437,573,568.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 910,731,659 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,310,871,244.33. This trade represents a 1.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 102,848,970 shares of company stock worth $4,145,103,288 over the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.