waypoint wealth counsel Increases Stock Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

waypoint wealth counsel raised its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 993 shares during the quarter. waypoint wealth counsel’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $265,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth about $15,031,000. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,738,000 after buying an additional 3,791 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of America by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 4,569,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $153,856,000 after buying an additional 170,535 shares in the last quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Bank of America by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 102,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,453,000 after acquiring an additional 25,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Socorro Asset Management LP raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Socorro Asset Management LP now owns 253,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,546,000 after acquiring an additional 2,990 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BAC shares. Piper Sandler raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com cut Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on 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 set a $48.00 target price (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Cfra reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.27.

Bank of America Stock Up 2.2 %

Bank of America stock traded up $0.86 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $40.11. 34,255,929 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 39,056,484. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $24.96 and a one year high of $44.44. The company has a market cap of $313.68 billion, a PE ratio of 13.88, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $39.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. 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 yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.99%.

Bank of America announced that its board has approved a share 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 reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 147,650,481 shares of company stock valued at $6,050,547,676 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

About Bank of America

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.