Menard Financial Group LLC Buys 3,044 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Menard Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 20.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 17,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,044 shares during the quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 644,460,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,437,936,000 after acquiring an additional 36,124,363 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Bank of America by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 104,030,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,502,720,000 after purchasing an additional 9,879,524 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 40,508,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,363,928,000 after purchasing an additional 2,935,040 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,354,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,530,241,000 after purchasing an additional 165,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 37,654,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,267,820,000 after buying an additional 5,488,790 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on BAC. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Bank of America from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set 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, Cfra reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 1,721,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.57, for a total transaction of $68,114,452.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 861,175,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,076,699,933.67. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 1,721,366 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.57, for a total transaction of $68,114,452.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 861,175,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,076,699,933.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 114,391,986 shares of company stock worth $4,719,796,383 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.3 %

BAC stock opened at $38.65 on Monday. 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 fifty-two week low of $24.96 and a fifty-two week high of $44.44. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.74. The company has a market cap of $299.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $25.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 13.28%. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This is an increase from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

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

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.