FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Raises Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH boosted its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 62.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,974 shares during the period. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $722,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BAC. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 402.2% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% during the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 transaction of $3,661,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 112,670,620 shares of company stock worth $4,651,681,930. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Bank of America Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $39.47 on Tuesday. 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 1-year low of $24.96 and a 1-year high of $44.44. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $306.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33.

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 company had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program 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 repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid 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 is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 35.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BAC. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. 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 research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.22.

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.