ARGA Investment Management LP Reduces Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

ARGA Investment Management LP reduced its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 234,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 517 shares during the quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $9,293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Encompass More Asset Management grew its holdings in Bank of America by 40.2% in the 3rd quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 7,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 2,237 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its holdings in Bank of America by 221.3% in the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 20,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $823,000 after buying an additional 14,281 shares in the last quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $348,000 after buying an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in Bank of America by 193.4% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 7,608,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $301,898,000 after buying an additional 5,015,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 190,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,553,000 after purchasing an additional 3,335 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,031,014 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.28, for a total transaction of $202,649,243.92. Following the sale, the insider now owns 863,977,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,801,017,687.72. This trade represents a 0.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 70,007,916 shares of company stock valued at $2,829,836,123. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $47.51 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $30.04 and a fifty-two week high of $48.08. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $43.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $364.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on BAC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.26.

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.