Wesbanco Bank Inc. Acquires 348 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 36,124,363 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 959.6% during the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 9,327,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $370,948,000 after buying an additional 8,447,091 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 1st quarter valued at $261,923,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1,432.1% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,151,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,627,000 after acquiring an additional 5,749,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in Bank of America by 290.7% in the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 7,114,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $269,763,000 after purchasing an additional 5,293,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE BAC opened at $42.14 on Wednesday. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $44.44. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.33. 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 company has a market cap of $329.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.81. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The business’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on BAC shares. Piper Sandler Companies raised Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Bank of America from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.27.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of Bank of America 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Bank of America news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 10,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,577.37. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,291,807 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total transaction of $530,145,635.91. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 998,961,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,085,191,337.27. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,230,389 shares of company stock valued at $6,023,064,684 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.