Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $693.09 Million Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 2.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,427,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 435,183 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $693,093,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BAC. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 402.2% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 1,721,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.57, for a total transaction of $68,114,452.62. Following the sale, the insider now owns 861,175,131 shares in the company, valued at $34,076,699,933.67. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Bank of America news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 1,721,366 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.57, for a total value of $68,114,452.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 861,175,131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,076,699,933.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 114,391,986 shares of company stock worth $4,719,796,383. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler upgraded Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Cfra reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.22.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $39.10 on Tuesday. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $24.96 and a 12 month high of $44.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $305.78 billion, a PE ratio of 13.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.77.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The company’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.99%.

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.