Mechanics Bank Trust Department Sells 675 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Mechanics Bank Trust Department lessened its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 28,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 675 shares during the period. Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,153,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $3,734,407,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of America by 5.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,437,936,000 after acquiring an additional 36,124,363 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its holdings in Bank of America by 360.9% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 37,290,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,255,514,000 after acquiring an additional 29,198,846 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 104,030,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,502,720,000 after acquiring an additional 9,879,524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 959.6% in the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 9,327,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $370,948,000 after purchasing an additional 8,447,091 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Bank of America news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,577.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 56,549,666 shares of company stock valued at $2,403,801,723. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on BAC. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price (up previously from $46.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $39.50 to $40.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.07.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of BAC traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $38.28. 26,411,232 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 39,617,418. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $44.44. The company has a market cap of $299.36 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.71.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The business had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

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.