Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC Sells 421 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC lessened its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 421 shares during the period. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 484,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,271,000 after purchasing an additional 12,611 shares during the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its holdings in Bank of America by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 1,427,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,724,000 after buying an additional 18,800 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 15.3% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 592,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,567,000 after buying an additional 78,578 shares during the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Bank of America during the second quarter worth $1,796,000. Finally, Callan Capital LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 8.1% during the second quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 26,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,069,000 after acquiring an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total value of $465,811,996.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 835,908,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,088,345,979.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total value of $465,811,996.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 835,908,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,088,345,979.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following 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. Insiders sold 129,780,724 shares of company stock valued at $5,342,589,705 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $40.28 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-month high of $44.44. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $315.00 billion, a PE ratio of 13.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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 given 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 of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target 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. Piper Sandler Companies raised Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Cfra restated a “sell” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.22.

Bank of America Company 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.