Washington Trust Bank Cuts Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Washington Trust Bank lessened its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 54,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 397 shares during the quarter. Washington Trust Bank’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Jmac Enterprises LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 3.3% in the third quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC now owns 36,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,455,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187 shares during the period. Olympiad Research LP purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the third quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,415,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $611,692,000 after buying an additional 569,385 shares during the last quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 5.0% during the third quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 42,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,812,000 after buying an additional 2,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baugh & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 6.2% during the third quarter. Baugh & Associates LLC now owns 150,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,662,000 after buying an additional 8,715 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Bank of America stock traded down $0.35 during trading on Thursday, hitting $45.06. The stock had a trading volume of 2,104,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,505,867. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $27.34 and a 12 month high of $45.55. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.96. The stock has a market cap of $345.74 billion, a PE ratio of 16.51, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan 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 purchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on BAC. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued 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 an average price target of $42.97.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,035,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.65, for a total transaction of $199,638,463.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 928,460,939 shares in the company, valued at $36,813,476,231.35. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available 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 shares were sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,035,018 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.65, for a total transaction of $199,638,463.70. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 928,460,939 shares in the company, valued at $36,813,476,231.35. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,067,817 shares of company stock worth $4,548,518,070 in the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.