Middleton & Co. Inc. MA Boosts Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA increased its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 8.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the quarter. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $492,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 402.2% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the period. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 1,721,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.57, for a total value of $68,114,452.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 861,175,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,076,699,933.67. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 1,721,366 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.57, for a total value of $68,114,452.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 861,175,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,076,699,933.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 114,391,986 shares of company stock worth $4,719,796,383. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays lifted their target price 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective (up previously from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.22.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE BAC opened at $39.64 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $40.03 and its 200 day moving average is $38.81. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $24.96 and a fifty-two week 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 company has a market capitalization of $309.96 billion, a PE ratio of 13.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 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.