Intech Investment Management LLC Sells 20,614 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Intech Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 10.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 178,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 20,614 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $7,099,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. McAdam LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.1% during the second quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 11,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.2% during the second quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $805,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 15.1% during the second quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 3.3% during the second quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC now owns 7,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.3% during the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 94,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,742,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target (up previously from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.22.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 129,780,724 shares of company stock worth $5,342,589,705. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Bank of America Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of BAC stock opened at $40.28 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $24.96 and a 1 year high of $44.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.86. 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 company has a market cap of $315.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.94, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 35.99%.

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

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.