Summit Financial Strategies Inc. Sells 497 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Summit Financial Strategies Inc. lessened its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 5.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 497 shares during the period. Summit Financial Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $338,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,734,407,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,437,936,000 after acquiring an additional 36,124,363 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its position in Bank of America by 360.9% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 37,290,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,255,514,000 after acquiring an additional 29,198,846 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Bank of America by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 104,030,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,502,720,000 after purchasing an additional 9,879,524 shares during the period. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 959.6% during the second 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 during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC stock traded up $0.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $39.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 26,886,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 39,278,254. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $24.96 and a 1 year high of $44.44. The company’s fifty day moving average is $40.20 and its 200-day moving average is $37.86. The company has a market capitalization of $307.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.35.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.99%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.07.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Bank of America news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of Bank of America 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,549,666 shares of company stock worth $2,403,801,723 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.