Brown Financial Advisors Invests $1.59 Million in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Brown Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 39,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,589,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. RiverFront Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 15,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $621,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the period. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 83,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,329,000 after buying an additional 625 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 2nd quarter valued at about $785,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 23.6% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 16,260,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $646,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,109,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KPP Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 30,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,198,000 after purchasing an additional 2,672 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE BAC opened at $39.23 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $306.79 billion, a PE ratio of 13.57, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $24.96 and a 12 month high of $44.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $39.50 and a 200-day moving average of $39.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The company had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS 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 outstanding 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 often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 35.99%.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Bank of America news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $530,145,635.91. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 998,961,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,085,191,337.27. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 140,942,405 shares of company stock worth $5,785,202,516. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cfra reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler upgraded Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies upgraded Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.12.

Bank of America 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.