Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC Sells 9,721 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC decreased its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,172,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,721 shares during the period. Bank of America accounts for about 2.5% of Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $46,615,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 402.2% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of BAC opened at $40.87 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $24.96 and a 1 year high of $44.44. 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 50 day simple moving average of $40.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.82. The firm has a market cap of $319.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $25.38 billion for 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 35.99%.

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BAC. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler Companies raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Cfra reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.22.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 129,780,724 shares of company stock worth $5,342,589,705 in the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.