Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Has $153.41 Million Stock Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. reduced its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,857,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 271,184 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $153,409,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Brio Consultants LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $227,000. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of America by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 17,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $585,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the period. Rollins Financial increased its position in Bank of America by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Rollins Financial now owns 441,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,879,000 after buying an additional 48,998 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 44.4% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 11,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $393,000 after acquiring an additional 3,585 shares during the period. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $237,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Down 1.4 %

BAC opened at $40.28 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $315.00 billion, a PE ratio of 13.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $24.96 and a twelve month high of $44.44. The company has a fifty day moving average of $39.98 and a 200-day moving average of $38.86.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the company’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 129,780,724 shares of company stock worth $5,342,589,705. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler Companies raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price 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 boosted their price target on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.22.

Bank of America Company 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.