New Century Financial Group LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

New Century Financial Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 10.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,470 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $494,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 402.2% in the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the second quarter worth $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the first quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at $402,577.37. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 138,284,099 shares of company stock worth $5,593,609,660 in the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Cfra reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of 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. Phillip Securities raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.69.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.7 %

Bank of America stock opened at $42.32 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $39.89 and its 200-day moving average is $39.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $24.96 and a 1 year high of $44.44. The company has a market cap of $330.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.64, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program 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 repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

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.