Easterly Investment Partners LLC Boosts Stock Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 690,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 65,978 shares during the quarter. Bank of America makes up 2.2% of Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $27,415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BAC. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 402.2% in the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% during the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 1,489.3% in the first quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 834 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC stock traded up $0.47 on Friday, reaching $45.24. The company had a trading volume of 11,997,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,596,773. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $347.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.48, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $27.34 and a 1 year high of $45.55. The company’s fifty day moving average is $40.72 and its 200 day moving average is $39.96.

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

Bank of America announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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 paid 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 2.30%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,183,829 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.31, for a total transaction of $203,776,317.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 937,246,053 shares in the company, valued at $36,843,142,343.43. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,183,829 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.31, for a total transaction of $203,776,317.99. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 937,246,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,843,142,343.43. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 113,067,817 shares of company stock valued at $4,548,518,070. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Phillip Securities upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Cfra reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.69.

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.