Regal Partners Ltd Raises Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Regal Partners Ltd increased its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,135,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 223,345 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises about 7.5% of Regal Partners Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Regal Partners Ltd’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $84,718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BAC. McAdam LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 11,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. Integrity Financial Corp WA lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.6% during the third quarter. Integrity Financial Corp WA now owns 14,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $590,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.2% in the second quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $805,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in Bank of America by 15.1% during the second quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SNS Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.3% during the second quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC now owns 7,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 2,305,415 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.27, for a total value of $90,533,647.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 812,041,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,888,881,917.97. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 2,305,415 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.27, for a total transaction of $90,533,647.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 812,041,811 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,888,881,917.97. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 107,883,988 shares of company stock worth $4,344,741,752 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.69.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.0 %

Bank of America stock opened at $45.88 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $28.47 and a 12-month high of $46.52. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $41.11 and a 200 day moving average of $40.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $352.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. Bank of America’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback 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 typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 37.82%.

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.