Bridges Investment Management Inc. Acquires New Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 45,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,796,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $40.28 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $39.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.86. The company has a market cap of $315.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $24.96 and a 1-year high of $44.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. Analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BAC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target (up previously from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Cfra restated a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.22.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the business’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 directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 129,780,724 shares of company stock valued at $5,342,589,705 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.