Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Buys 1,858 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 10.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,858 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $786,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 47.0% during the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 5,426,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $182,721,000 after acquiring an additional 1,734,530 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp raised its holdings in Bank of America by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 132,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,478,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $213,000. Jacobi Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 171,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,771,000 after purchasing an additional 2,520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth $1,600,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.0 %

Bank of America stock opened at $39.95 on Wednesday. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $24.96 and a fifty-two week high of $44.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.18. The stock has a market cap of $312.42 billion, a PE ratio of 13.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The company’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. Research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its board has initiated 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $3,824,063.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated 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 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 156,918,857 shares of company stock valued at $6,421,694,213. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. 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 research report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Bank of America from $49.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Bank of America from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.27.

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.