Ellsworth Advisors LLC Acquires 3,913 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 43,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,913 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,738,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 36,124,363 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position in Bank of America by 959.6% in the second 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 period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Bank of America in the first quarter valued at about $261,923,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 1,432.1% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,151,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,627,000 after acquiring an additional 5,749,567 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 290.7% during the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 7,114,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $269,763,000 after purchasing an additional 5,293,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $42.61 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $24.96 and a 1 year high of $44.44. The firm has a market cap of $333.23 billion, a PE ratio of 14.74, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.38.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. Analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 purchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.99%.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total transaction of $465,811,996.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 835,908,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,088,345,979.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 144,633,120 shares of company stock valued at $5,862,871,640. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler Companies raised Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler upgraded 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 note on Tuesday, July 9th. Cfra reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.62.

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.