Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Boosts Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

by · The Markets Daily

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT boosted its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 275,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,723 shares during the quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $10,953,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barometer Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,175,000. IMA Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter worth $1,453,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 149.9% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $715,000 after buying an additional 12,744 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 40,508,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,363,928,000 after buying an additional 2,935,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $3,601,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 1.2 %

Bank of America stock opened at $39.58 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.80. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 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 has a market capitalization of $309.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The company’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were 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 owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America 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. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 114,391,986 shares of company stock valued at $4,719,796,383. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies upgraded shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.22.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Bank of America

About Bank of America

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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