Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Stake Boosted by Clear Rock Advisors LLC

Clear Rock Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,027 shares during the period. Bank of America comprises approximately 1.4% of Clear Rock Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Clear Rock Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,381,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 36,124,363 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Bank of America by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 104,030,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,502,720,000 after acquiring an additional 9,879,524 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Bank of America by 1.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 57,539,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,288,347,000 after acquiring an additional 895,884 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,354,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,530,241,000 after purchasing an additional 165,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 37,654,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,267,820,000 after purchasing an additional 5,488,790 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. Barclays upped their price objective 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. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target (up previously from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned 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 a consensus target price of $42.12.

Bank of America Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $39.23 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $306.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-month high of $44.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The business’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. Research analysts expect 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 was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 35.99%.

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 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Bank of America news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were 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 $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,942,405 shares of company stock valued at $5,785,202,516 over the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.