Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD Sells 2,800 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD reduced its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 3.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,800 shares during the period. Bank of America comprises approximately 2.9% of Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,234,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,734,407,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,437,936,000 after acquiring an additional 36,124,363 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 360.9% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 37,290,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,255,514,000 after acquiring an additional 29,198,846 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Bank of America by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 104,030,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,502,720,000 after purchasing an additional 9,879,524 shares during the period. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its position in Bank of America by 959.6% in the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 9,327,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $370,948,000 after purchasing an additional 8,447,091 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $39.34. 26,886,616 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 39,278,254. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $40.20 and a 200-day moving average of $37.86. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $24.96 and a one year high of $44.44. The firm has a market cap of $307.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.61, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 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 company had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. Bank of America’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.99%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $39.50 to $40.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the 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 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 is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,549,666 shares of company stock valued at $2,403,801,723 over the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.