Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 69,660,000 shares, an increase of 11.2% from the August 15th total of 62,670,000 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 40,020,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 114,391,986 shares of company stock worth $4,719,796,383 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. raised its holdings in Bank of America by 35,120.0% in the 2nd quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 130,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,183,000 after acquiring an additional 129,944 shares in the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 46.0% in the second quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 21,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $857,000 after buying an additional 6,788 shares in the last quarter. American Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 4.7% during the second quarter. American Trust now owns 10,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the period. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter worth $875,000. Finally, Lazari Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.3% during the second quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 104,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,164,000 after purchasing an additional 1,368 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Bank of America stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.56. The company had a trading volume of 11,681,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 39,076,871. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Bank of America has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $44.44. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.07 and a 200-day moving average of $38.80. The firm has a market cap of $309.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.68, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.99%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on BAC. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Cfra reissued a “sell” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.22.

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.