Smith Salley Wealth Management Boosts Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Smith Salley Wealth Management grew its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 120,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,317 shares during the period. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $4,769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BAC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 worth $24,437,936,000 after acquiring an additional 36,124,363 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted 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 valued at $370,948,000 after purchasing an additional 8,447,091 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter worth about $261,923,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1,432.1% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,151,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $244,627,000 after buying an additional 5,749,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 290.7% in the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 7,114,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $269,763,000 after buying an additional 5,293,000 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Cfra reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.69.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC opened at $41.89 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $24.96 and a twelve month high of $44.44. The firm has a market cap of $325.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.23, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.59.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.82%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In related news, 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 value of $402,355.91. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Bank of America news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,577.37. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 125,336,839 shares of company stock valued at $5,049,968,704 in the last three months. Corporate 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.