Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Purchased by Ceredex Value Advisors LLC

by · The Markets Daily

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 26.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,531,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 316,206 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises approximately 1.2% of Ceredex Value Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $60,771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BAC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,437,936,000 after buying an additional 36,124,363 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Bank of America by 1.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 57,539,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,288,347,000 after purchasing an additional 895,884 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Bank of America by 0.4% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,354,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,530,241,000 after purchasing an additional 165,070 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 21,465,791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $813,983,000 after purchasing an additional 954,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 23.6% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 16,260,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $646,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,109,197 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Bank of America from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Cfra restated a “sell” rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.69.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Bank of America

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE BAC opened at $41.76 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $26.59 and a fifty-two week high of $44.44. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $40.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.78. The firm has a market cap of $320.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.33. 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 – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.82%.

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,183,829 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.31, for a total value of $203,776,317.99. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 937,246,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,843,142,343.43. 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,183,829 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.31, for a total value of $203,776,317.99. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 937,246,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,843,142,343.43. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 113,078,718 shares of company stock worth $4,548,920,425. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Profile

(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.

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