Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. Sells 350 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 350 shares during the quarter. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,734,407,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $24,437,936,000 after purchasing an additional 36,124,363 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position 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 worth $1,255,514,000 after purchasing an additional 29,198,846 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings 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 worth $3,502,720,000 after acquiring an additional 9,879,524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings 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 worth $370,948,000 after acquiring an additional 8,447,091 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Cfra reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.07.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 56,549,666 shares of company stock worth $2,403,801,723. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $40.20 and a 200-day moving average of $37.86. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $44.44. The stock has a market cap of $307.65 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

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

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

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.