First Business Financial Services Inc. Has $2.35 Million Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

First Business Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 59,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,084 shares during the period. First Business Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 5.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,437,936,000 after acquiring an additional 36,124,363 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Bank of America by 1.6% in the 2nd 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 during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Bank of America by 0.4% in the 1st 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. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,042,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $676,264,000 after purchasing an additional 59,853 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 23.6% in the second 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 in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total value of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. This trade represents a 1.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This represents a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 107,883,988 shares of company stock worth $4,344,741,752 in the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.1 %

BAC opened at $45.91 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $29.20 and a 1-year high of $46.52. The company has a market cap of $352.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $41.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.22. 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 (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 37.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BAC. Citigroup raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target 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. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.26.

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.