Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Has $27.12 Million Stock Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. raised its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 683,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,340 shares during the quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $27,124,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in Bank of America during the third quarter worth $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America during the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in 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 worth $40,000 after buying an additional 852 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $46.75 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $41.49 and a 200-day moving average of $40.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $358.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $29.22 and a twelve month high of $46.84.

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

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on BAC shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.26.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,754,272 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.79, for a total transaction of $268,752,482.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 921,706,667 shares in the company, valued at $36,674,708,279.93. This represents a 0.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 102,848,970 shares of company stock valued at $4,145,103,288. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.