LJI Wealth Management LLC Buys 593 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

LJI Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 55,235 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 593 shares during the quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3.2% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 5,393,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $214,016,000 after purchasing an additional 165,088 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 10.4% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 249,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,909,000 after acquiring an additional 23,617 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 2.0% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 242,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,603,000 after acquiring an additional 4,794 shares during the last quarter. Black Diamond Financial LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 9.1% during the third quarter. Black Diamond Financial LLC now owns 25,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $997,000 after acquiring an additional 2,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Business Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Bank of America by 5.5% during the third quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 59,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,350,000 after acquiring an additional 3,084 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 6,754,272 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.79, for a total transaction of $268,752,482.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 921,706,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,674,708,279.93. This trade represents a 0.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 107,883,988 shares of company stock valued at $4,344,741,752 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC traded up $0.85 during trading on Friday, hitting $46.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 40,488,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,721,895. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $29.22 and a one year high of $46.84. The firm has a market cap of $358.71 billion, a PE ratio of 17.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.32. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.33.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.22%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.26.

Bank of America 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.