MAI Capital Management Cuts Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

MAI Capital Management lessened its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 4.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 888,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 42,731 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $35,266,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in Bank of America by 525.9% during 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of America 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 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. The trade was a 48.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 2,305,415 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was 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 directly owns 812,041,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,888,881,917.97. This trade represents a 0.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 102,848,970 shares of company stock worth $4,145,103,288 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $46.75 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a 50-day moving average of $41.49 and a 200-day moving average of $40.37. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $29.22 and a twelve month high of $46.84. The firm has a market cap of $358.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase 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 purchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders 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 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on BAC. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.26.

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.