Black Diamond Financial LLC Purchases 2,103 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Black Diamond Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,103 shares during the period. Black Diamond Financial LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $997,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter worth about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 646 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 1,489.3% during the first quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 834 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $45.91 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $352.26 billion, a PE ratio of 16.69, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.32. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $41.22 and its 200 day moving average is $40.22. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $29.20 and a fifty-two week high of $46.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program 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 programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors 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 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total transaction of $369,952,591.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,606,297,408.10. This trade represents a 1.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. This represents a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 107,883,988 shares of company stock worth $4,344,741,752 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BAC shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Phillip Securities upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.