Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Sells 20,685 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lowered its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 5.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 394,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 20,685 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $15,645,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. American National Bank & Trust Co. VA bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the first quarter valued at about $1,322,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 27.1% in the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 98,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,734,000 after buying an additional 20,916 shares in the last quarter. Councilmark Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the first quarter valued at approximately $771,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 37.7% during the 2nd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 54,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,163,000 after acquiring an additional 14,901 shares during the period. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in Bank of America by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 196,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,628,000 after acquiring an additional 20,309 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of BAC traded up $0.04 on Tuesday, reaching $42.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,617,466 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,401,723. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $40.30 and a 200-day moving average of $39.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $331.02 billion, a PE ratio of 15.50, a PEG ratio of 1.42 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. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $25.28 and a twelve month high of $44.44.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.26 EPS for the current year.

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

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.82%.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total value of $465,811,996.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 835,908,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,088,345,979.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total value of $465,811,996.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 835,908,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,088,345,979.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 120,072,238 shares of company stock worth $4,833,067,143. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BAC shares. Barclays increased their target price on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Piper Sandler upgraded Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.69.

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.