Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Bought by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,478,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 158,698 shares during the period. Bank of America makes up about 0.5% of Marshall Wace LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 0.11% of Bank of America worth $337,175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Barometer Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,175,000. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 40,508,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,363,928,000 after acquiring an additional 2,935,040 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,601,000. American National Bank & Trust Co. VA acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,322,000. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,336,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $39.88 on Tuesday. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-month high of $44.44. The company has a market cap of $311.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $39.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.94.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. 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 dividend yield of 2.61%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The sale 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 12,690,693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 129,780,724 shares of company stock worth $5,342,589,705 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Cfra reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price (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 given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.22.

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.