Great Diamond Partners LLC Sells 5,265 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Great Diamond Partners LLC reduced its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 39.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,265 shares during the quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $325,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. American National Bank & Trust Co. VA purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,322,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in Bank of America by 27.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 20,916 shares during the period. Councilmark Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the first quarter valued at $771,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 37.7% during the second quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 54,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,163,000 after purchasing an additional 14,901 shares during the period. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in Bank of America by 11.5% during the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 196,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,628,000 after purchasing an additional 20,309 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Cfra restated a “sell” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.69.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $42.53 on Wednesday. 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 one year low of $25.28 and a one year high of $44.44. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $330.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan 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 plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total transaction of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were 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 approximately $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total transaction of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,606,297,408.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,078,718 shares of company stock valued at $4,548,920,425 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is 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.