Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Short Interest Up 5.8% in October

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 63,840,000 shares, a growth of 5.8% from the October 15th total of 60,320,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 36,660,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:BAC traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $46.41. The stock had a trading volume of 27,907,561 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,645,934. Bank of America has a 12 month low of $29.32 and a 12 month high of $47.02. The company has a market cap of $356.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.32. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.44. 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 (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.82%.

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total value of $465,811,996.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 835,908,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,088,345,979.30. This trade represents a 1.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 102,848,970 shares of company stock valued at $4,145,103,288. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 3.6% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 29,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,129,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. Davis R M Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.5% in the first quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 459,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,424,000 after buying an additional 6,904 shares in the last quarter. Rockport Wealth LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at about $629,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 15.7% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 867,943 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,912,000 after acquiring an additional 117,646 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 39.1% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,151,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $498,710,000 after acquiring an additional 3,696,948 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on BAC. Barclays upped their target price 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. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America 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.