Sculptor Capital LP Raises Stock Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Sculptor Capital LP boosted its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 12.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 890,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 100,000 shares during the period. Sculptor Capital LP’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $35,395,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Brio Consultants LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $227,000. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 17,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $585,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Rollins Financial lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Rollins Financial now owns 441,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,879,000 after acquiring an additional 48,998 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 44.4% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 11,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $393,000 after purchasing an additional 3,585 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Bank of America by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,913,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $98,102,000 after purchasing an additional 442,864 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE BAC opened at $39.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $309.06 billion, a PE ratio of 13.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $24.96 and a one year high of $44.44. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $39.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.97.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 35.99%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase 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 buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BAC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Cfra reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a 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 on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.22.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 134,721,864 shares of company stock worth $5,539,943,089 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.