DRW Securities LLC Buys 81,047 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

DRW Securities LLC grew its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 69.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 198,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 81,047 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $7,885,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barometer Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at $2,175,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 149.9% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $715,000 after purchasing an additional 12,744 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 40,508,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,363,928,000 after purchasing an additional 2,935,040 shares in the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,601,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust Co. VA bought a new stake in Bank of America in the first quarter worth approximately $1,322,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total transaction of $530,145,635.91. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 998,961,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,085,191,337.27. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total transaction of $530,145,635.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 998,961,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,085,191,337.27. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was 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 approximately $3,824,063.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 129,780,724 shares of company stock worth $5,342,589,705. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on BAC. Piper Sandler upgraded Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Cfra restated a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.22.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC opened at $40.27 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $39.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.88. The company has a market capitalization of $314.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $24.96 and a 1 year high of $44.44.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The business had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.99%.

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.