Fisher Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 45,215,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,731,003 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,794,164,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 839.0% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in Bank of America in the third quarter worth $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 525.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 852 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 7,081,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.95, for a total value of $282,888,946.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 896,719,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,823,936,074.95. The trade was a 0.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 85,119,690 shares of company stock worth $3,438,777,236 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.26.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $47.00 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $42.24 and its 200 day moving average is $40.69. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $29.32 and a one year high of $47.22. 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 stock has a market cap of $360.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.32.

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 (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 company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.82%.

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.