Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 18.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,857 shares during the period. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BAC. McAdam LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 11,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.2% during the second quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $805,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in Bank of America by 15.1% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC now owns 7,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 94,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,742,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE BAC opened at $39.95 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $312.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.82, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.18. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $44.44.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.99%.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays increased their price target on Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price (up from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies raised Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.27.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 4,076,169 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.05, for a total transaction of $163,250,568.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 784,549,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,421,224,816.65. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 4,076,169 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.05, for a total value of $163,250,568.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 784,549,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,421,224,816.65. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 156,918,857 shares of company stock valued at $6,421,694,213. 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.