Bank of America Corporation $BAC Holdings Decreased by Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA

Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA trimmed its position in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 0.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,208,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,238 shares during the period. Bank of America comprises 2.4% of Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $50,267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 45.1% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,007,718,000 after buying an additional 14,960,086 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 122,437,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,381,126,000 after buying an additional 11,691,451 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,985,785,000 after buying an additional 9,980,859 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 31.1% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 39,051,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,716,318,000 after buying an additional 9,258,040 shares during the period. Finally, Theleme Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $263,449,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Up 2.1%

Bank of America stock opened at $47.92 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $354.94 billion, a PE ratio of 14.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.80. Bank of America Corporation has a one year low of $33.06 and a one year high of $49.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $46.75 and a 200 day moving average of $43.76.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. The company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.75%.

Bank of America announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BAC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. HSBC lowered Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Phillip Securities lowered Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total transaction of $6,762,177.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. This represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.