Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Northstar Group Inc.

Northstar Group Inc. lessened its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 37.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,300 shares during the quarter. Northstar Group Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Morton Capital Management LLC CA boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 23.5% during the 3rd quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 12,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $492,000 after buying an additional 2,360 shares during the last quarter. BSN CAPITAL PARTNERS Ltd acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at $8,058,000. USA Financial Formulas boosted its stake in Bank of America by 29.9% during the 3rd quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 41,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,630,000 after acquiring an additional 9,450 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 59,056 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,343,000 after purchasing an additional 3,503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abner Herrman & Brock LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 4.5% in the third quarter. Abner Herrman & Brock LLC now owns 396,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,740,000 after purchasing an additional 16,909 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE BAC traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $39.99. 4,550,683 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 38,688,801. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $24.96 and a twelve month high of $44.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The business’s 50-day moving average is $39.31 and its 200-day moving average is $39.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $312.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Bank of America news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,577.37. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 156,918,857 shares of company stock worth $6,421,694,213. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Bank of America from $49.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on 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. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.