Verus Financial Partners Inc. Has $445,000 Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Verus Financial Partners Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 5.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 614 shares during the quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $445,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,734,407,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Bank of America by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,437,936,000 after buying an additional 36,124,363 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in Bank of America by 360.9% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 37,290,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,255,514,000 after buying an additional 29,198,846 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Bank of America by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 104,030,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,502,720,000 after acquiring an additional 9,879,524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in Bank of America by 959.6% in the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 9,327,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $370,948,000 after acquiring an additional 8,447,091 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BAC. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Cfra restated a “sell” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price (up previously from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.22.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC opened at $40.13 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $313.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.89, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.46. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $24.96 and a twelve month high of $44.44.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The business had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.59%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 35.99%.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,183,829 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.31, for a total transaction of $203,776,317.99. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 937,246,053 shares in the company, valued at $36,843,142,343.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 112,670,620 shares of company stock worth $4,651,681,930 in the last quarter. 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.