First County Bank CT Sells 667 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

First County Bank CT cut its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 667 shares during the period. First County Bank CT’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $310,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. McAdam LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 2.1% during the second quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 11,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 1.2% in the second quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $805,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 15.1% in the second quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 3.3% in the second quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC now owns 7,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 0.3% in the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 94,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,742,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $39.39 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $39.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.00. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $24.96 and a twelve month high of $44.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $308.04 billion, a PE ratio of 13.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.22 billion. During the same period in the previous 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, equities research analysts forecast 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 share buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 35.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 3,915,126 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.52, for a total transaction of $154,725,779.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 802,668,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,721,473,347.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 3,915,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.52, for a total value of $154,725,779.52. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 802,668,860 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,721,473,347.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 140,942,405 shares of company stock valued at $5,785,202,516. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price (up previously from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Cfra reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average 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.