Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Major Shareholder Sells $154,725,779.52 in Stock

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 3,915,126 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.52, for a total value of $154,725,779.52. Following the sale, the insider now owns 802,668,860 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,721,473,347.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, September 25th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 2,305,415 shares of Bank of America stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.27, for a total value of $90,533,647.05.
• On Monday, September 23rd, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 4,941,403 shares of Bank of America stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total value of $197,359,635.82.
• On Thursday, September 19th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 11,422,560 shares of Bank of America stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total transaction of $465,811,996.80.
• On Tuesday, September 17th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 3,966,178 shares of Bank of America stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.58, for a total transaction of $156,981,325.24.
• On Monday, September 9th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 1,721,366 shares of Bank of America stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.57, for a total transaction of $68,114,452.62.
• On Thursday, September 5th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,031,014 shares of Bank of America stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.28, for a total value of $202,649,243.92.
• On Tuesday, September 3rd, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,031,639 shares of Bank of America stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.66, for a total value of $326,566,441.74.
• On Friday, August 30th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 7,938,699 shares of Bank of America stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.61, for a total value of $322,390,566.39.
• On Wednesday, August 28th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 7,081,075 shares of Bank of America stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.95, for a total transaction of $282,888,946.25.
• On Monday, August 26th, Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 10,975,008 shares of Bank of America stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.87, for a total transaction of $437,573,568.96.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $39.40 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $308.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $24.96 and a twelve month high of $44.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.02.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.99%.

Bank of America declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 36,124,363 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 360.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of 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. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in Bank of America by 959.6% during the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 9,327,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $370,948,000 after buying an additional 8,447,091 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Bank of America during the first quarter worth about $261,923,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Cfra reissued a “sell” rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted 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 report on Thursday, July 18th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.22.

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.