Brandes Investment Partners LP Boosts Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,485,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 427,474 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises 2.7% of Brandes Investment Partners LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $217,949,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. McAdam LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.1% in 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 stake 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 worth $805,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in Bank of America by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the period. SNS Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $310,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.3% in 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.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $530,145,635.91. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 998,961,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,085,191,337.27. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total transaction of $530,145,635.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 998,961,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,085,191,337.27. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,942,405 shares of company stock valued at $5,785,202,516 over the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of BAC opened at $39.40 on Monday. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $24.96 and a fifty-two week high of $44.44. The firm has a market cap of $308.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.63, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $39.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

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

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback 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 buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. 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 2.64%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 35.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler Companies upgraded 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 report on Tuesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price 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. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.