First National Trust Co Acquires 317 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

First National Trust Co increased its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 185,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $7,350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. McAdam LLC boosted 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 worth $455,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Integrity Financial Corp WA boosted its stake in Bank of America by 1.6% in the 3rd 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 during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.2% during the second quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $805,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 15.1% in the second quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SNS Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 3.3% in the second quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC now owns 7,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report 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 research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Cfra reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. One 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,183,829 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.31, for a total value of $203,776,317.99. Following the sale, the insider now owns 937,246,053 shares in the company, valued at $36,843,142,343.43. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,183,829 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.31, for a total transaction of $203,776,317.99. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 937,246,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,843,142,343.43. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 113,067,817 shares of company stock worth $4,548,518,070. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE:BAC opened at $46.10 on Tuesday. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $27.42 and a one year high of $46.52. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $353.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.76, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

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

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.82%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.