Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Stock Position Lowered by Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 32.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,580 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. McAdam LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 11,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Bank of America by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $805,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in Bank of America by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the period. SNS Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC now owns 7,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 94,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,742,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $42.32 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $39.89 and a 200-day moving average of $39.43. The company has a market capitalization of $330.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.64, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $44.44. 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, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 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 for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 35.99%.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on BAC. Jefferies Financial Group increased 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. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.69.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,420,599 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.39, for a total transaction of $229,779,191.61. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 980,061,561 shares in the company, valued at $41,544,809,570.79. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,420,599 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.39, for a total transaction of $229,779,191.61. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 980,061,561 shares in the company, valued at $41,544,809,570.79. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. 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 sold 144,633,120 shares of company stock valued at $5,862,871,640. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America 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.