Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems lessened its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 8.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 470,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 42,404 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises approximately 0.6% of Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Bank of America were worth $18,662,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 57,539,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,288,347,000 after buying an additional 895,884 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake 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 valued at $1,530,241,000 after buying an additional 165,070 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in 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 worth $676,264,000 after buying an additional 59,853 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake 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 worth $646,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,109,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Bank of America by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,415,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $611,692,000 after buying an additional 569,385 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC opened at $46.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $358.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.32. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $41.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.33. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $29.22 and a 1 year high of $46.84.

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

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

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

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in 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 typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price 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. Barclays boosted their price target on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total transaction of $369,952,591.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,606,297,408.10. The trade was a 1.12 % 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 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Bank of America Company Profile

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.