Federated Hermes Inc. Has $165.05 Million Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,149,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 40,158 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 0.05% of Bank of America worth $165,045,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Bank of America by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,437,936,000 after purchasing an additional 36,124,363 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,734,407,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 104,030,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,502,720,000 after buying an additional 9,879,524 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $1,363,928,000 after acquiring an additional 2,935,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Bank of America by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,354,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,530,241,000 after acquiring an additional 165,070 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of Bank of America 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 114,391,986 shares of company stock worth $4,719,796,383. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:BAC opened at $38.78 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $24.96 and a twelve month high of $44.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $300.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $40.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.64.

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

Bank of America declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price (up previously from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.22.

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.