Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Stake Increased by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 173.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 583,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 370,275 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $23,150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the second quarter worth about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 839.0% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in Bank of America by 525.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 852 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays increased their target price on Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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 investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total value of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. The trade was a 1.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The trade was a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 102,848,970 shares of company stock worth $4,145,103,288. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $46.36 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $41.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.55. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $29.32 and a 52 week high of $47.02. The company has a market cap of $355.71 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.32. 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 (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during 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%. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 37.82%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.