Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 17.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 472,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 70,107 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $18,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 worth $24,437,936,000 after purchasing an additional 36,124,363 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 57,539,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,288,347,000 after purchasing an additional 895,884 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.4% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,354,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,530,241,000 after acquiring an additional 165,070 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.4% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,042,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $676,264,000 after buying an additional 59,853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in Bank of America by 23.6% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 16,260,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $646,693,000 after buying an additional 3,109,197 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:BAC traded up $0.20 on Tuesday, reaching $46.28. 6,962,085 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 38,594,020. The firm has a market capitalization of $355.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $27.42 and a 1-year high of $46.52. 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’s 50 day moving average is $41.00 and its 200-day moving average is $40.13.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. Bank of America’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 37.82%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Phillip Securities upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total transaction of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,606,297,408.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 113,067,817 shares of company stock valued at $4,548,518,070. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.