Sageworth Trust Co Acquires Shares of 8,206 Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Sageworth Trust Co purchased a new stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 8,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $326,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 5.9% during the first 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 in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 8,447,091 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the first quarter valued at approximately $261,923,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1,432.1% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,151,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $244,627,000 after purchasing an additional 5,749,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 290.7% in the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 7,114,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $269,763,000 after purchasing an additional 5,293,000 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of BAC stock traded down $0.76 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $41.89. 27,466,909 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 38,639,859. The firm has a market cap of $325.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $24.96 and a fifty-two week high of $44.44. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.58. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.26 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program 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 programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 37.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,264,601 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.20, for a total value of $216,901,561.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 961,646,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,619,844,658. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,264,601 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.20, for a total value of $216,901,561.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 961,646,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,619,844,658. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 125,336,839 shares of company stock valued at $5,049,968,704 in the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. Phillip Securities raised 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 report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Cfra reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.69.

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.