Naviter Wealth LLC Boosts Stock Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Naviter Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 2.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 71,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares during the quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,841,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 5.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,437,936,000 after purchasing an additional 36,124,363 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $3,734,407,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 10.5% during the fourth 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 period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 41,833,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,408,520,000 after acquiring an additional 1,315,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 40,508,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,363,928,000 after purchasing an additional 2,935,040 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC traded down $0.01 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $40.74. 17,448,823 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 39,114,469. The firm has a market capitalization of $318.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.93, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.35. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $24.96 and a 1-year high of $44.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is an increase 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 35.99%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on BAC. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated 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. 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective 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. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 7,938,699 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.61, for a total transaction of $322,390,566.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 882,723,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,847,417,700.83. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 7,938,699 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.61, for a total transaction of $322,390,566.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 882,723,903 shares in the company, valued at $35,847,417,700.83. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 99,609,567 shares of company stock valued at $4,122,483,669 over the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by 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.