Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Stock Position Increased by Fiduciary Trust Co

Fiduciary Trust Co boosted its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 178,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,850 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $7,063,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 57,539,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,288,347,000 after purchasing an additional 895,884 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Bank of America by 4.0% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,215,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,794,164,000 after buying an additional 1,731,003 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.8% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 22,341,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $886,499,000 after buying an additional 601,211 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,042,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $676,264,000 after acquiring an additional 59,853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 23.6% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 16,260,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $646,693,000 after acquiring an additional 3,109,197 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $47.77 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $42.87 and a 200-day moving average of $40.92. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $29.32 and a 1 year high of $47.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $366.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced 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 company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 37.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BAC shares. Phillip Securities raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target 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. 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 2,305,415 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.27, for a total value 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 approximately $31,888,881,917.97. This trade represents a 0.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders sold 70,007,916 shares of company stock valued at $2,829,836,123. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Company 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.