Parnassus Investments LLC Sells 785,317 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Parnassus Investments LLC trimmed its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,387,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 785,317 shares during the period. Bank of America accounts for about 1.9% of Parnassus Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Parnassus Investments LLC owned about 0.29% of Bank of America worth $888,342,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 839.0% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in Bank of America by 525.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 852 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $46.72 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $358.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $29.32 and a 12-month high of $47.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $41.64 and a 200 day moving average of $40.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The company’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 10,975,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.87, for a total value of $437,573,568.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 910,731,659 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,310,871,244.33. This represents a 1.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.80, for a total transaction 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 trade was a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 102,848,970 shares of company stock worth $4,145,103,288 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on BAC shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.26.

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.