Trustmark National Bank Trust Department Boosts Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Trustmark National Bank Trust Department raised its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 220,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,619 shares during the period. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $8,738,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BAC. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 29,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,129,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Capital International Inc. CA boosted its stake in Bank of America by 9.2% during the first quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 279,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,591,000 after buying an additional 23,451 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 72,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,736,000 after acquiring an additional 5,320 shares during the last quarter. Huber Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 38.5% during the 1st quarter. Huber Capital Management LLC now owns 251,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,553,000 after acquiring an additional 70,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $602,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. This represents a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. This represents a 1.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 102,848,970 shares of company stock worth $4,145,103,288 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $46.06 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $41.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.55. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $29.32 and a 1-year high of $47.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $353.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.32.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its board has approved 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 buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors 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 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.26.

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.