Waddell & Associates LLC Has $317,000 Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Waddell & Associates LLC decreased its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,973 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 351 shares during the quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $317,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BAC. Barometer Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $2,175,000. IMA Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Bank of America in the 1st quarter valued at $1,453,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 149.9% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $715,000 after buying an additional 12,744 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 40,508,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,363,928,000 after purchasing an additional 2,935,040 shares during the period. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. raised its holdings in Bank of America by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 59,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,012,000 after purchasing an additional 6,416 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,031,014 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.28, for a total value of $202,649,243.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 863,977,599 shares in the company, valued at $34,801,017,687.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Bank of America 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 transaction of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,031,014 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.28, for a total transaction of $202,649,243.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 863,977,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,801,017,687.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 112,670,620 shares of company stock worth $4,651,681,930. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on BAC. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.22.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC stock traded down $1.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $38.76. 47,007,588 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 39,322,148. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $44.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $303.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.41, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $40.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.52. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

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.