Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Argent Advisors Inc.

Argent Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 12.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 52,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,331 shares during the quarter. Bank of America makes up 0.8% of Argent Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,100,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,502,000. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $515,000. Brio Consultants LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $227,000. PGGM Investments lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 142.7% in the 4th quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 30,039 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,011,000 after buying an additional 17,660 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,770 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total value of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,063.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 99,609,567 shares of company stock worth $4,122,483,669 over the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on Bank of America from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.07.

Bank of America Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of BAC stock traded up $0.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $40.75. 43,911,159 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 39,229,773. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $24.96 and a fifty-two week high of $44.44. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.21. 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 $318.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.10, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.35.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. The business had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.