Rockland Trust Co. Boosts Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Rockland Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 119,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 379 shares during the quarter. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $4,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 402.2% in the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its position in 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the period. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $402,355.91. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 147,650,481 shares of company stock valued at $6,050,547,676. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $39.24 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $39.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.10. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week 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 firm has a market capitalization of $306.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced 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. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 35.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BAC. Piper Sandler raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.27.

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.