Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 1,793,432 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. reduced its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 39.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,777,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,793,432 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $110,480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Bank of America by 1,432.1% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,151,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $244,627,000 after buying an additional 5,749,567 shares in the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 20.7% in the second quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 1,297 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 5,121.9% in the second quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 67,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,689,000 after purchasing an additional 66,329 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 2.6% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,412,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,168,000 after purchasing an additional 35,450 shares during the period. Finally, Kowal Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 5.3% in the second quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 15,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $610,000 after purchasing an additional 766 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BAC. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective (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 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of 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 shares of Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total value of $465,811,996.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 835,908,435 shares in the company, valued at $34,088,345,979.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total transaction of $465,811,996.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 835,908,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,088,345,979.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 129,780,724 shares of company stock worth $5,342,589,705. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of BAC stock opened at $40.27 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-month high of $44.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $39.98 and its 200 day moving average is $38.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $314.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.99%.

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

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.