Financial Partners Group LLC Reduces Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Financial Partners Group LLC lessened its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 49,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 776 shares during the quarter. Financial Partners Group LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,972,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. McAdam LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 11,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. Integrity Financial Corp WA raised its position in Bank of America by 1.6% in the third quarter. Integrity Financial Corp WA now owns 14,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $590,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of America by 1.2% during the second quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $805,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. lifted its stake in Bank of America by 15.1% during the second quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SNS Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 3.3% during the second quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC now owns 7,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total value of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. This trade 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 the SEC website. In related 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 value 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total value of $369,952,591.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 125,336,839 shares of company stock worth $5,049,968,704. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC stock opened at $42.64 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $330.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.51, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $24.96 and a twelve month high of $44.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.53. 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 (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. 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 return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.26 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors 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 2.44%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.82%.

Bank of America announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.