Keystone Financial Services Increases Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Keystone Financial Services grew its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 757 shares during the quarter. Keystone Financial Services’ holdings in Bank of America were worth $435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Global Investments raised its holdings in Bank of America by 237.6% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 51,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,035,000 after acquiring an additional 36,089 shares during the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 125.8% in the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 61,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,421,000 after purchasing an additional 33,983 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 27.1% during the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 98,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,734,000 after purchasing an additional 20,916 shares in the last quarter. Councilmark Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the first quarter valued at $771,000. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 37.7% during the second quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 54,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,163,000 after buying an additional 14,901 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Cfra reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned 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 an average target price of $43.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 766,305,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America 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 owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total value of $369,952,591.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,606,297,408.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 113,067,817 shares of company stock worth $4,548,518,070 in the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $46.10 on Tuesday. 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 52 week low of $27.42 and a 52 week high of $46.52. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.07. The company has a market capitalization of $353.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 prior year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

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

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is 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.