Cerity Partners LLC Has $116.47 Million Stock Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 20.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,935,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 491,637 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $116,469,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Accent Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 43.0% during the 3rd quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 39,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,567,000 after acquiring an additional 11,873 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 237.6% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 51,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,035,000 after acquiring an additional 36,089 shares in the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 125.8% during the 3rd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 61,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,421,000 after purchasing an additional 33,983 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 27.1% in the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 98,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,734,000 after purchasing an additional 20,916 shares during the period. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 173.7% in the third quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 583,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,150,000 after buying an additional 370,275 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 92,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 96,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,063.60. This represents a 48.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total transaction of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,606,297,408.10. This trade represents a 1.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 96,094,698 shares of company stock worth $3,876,350,805. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $47.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $360.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $29.32 and a twelve month high of $47.22. The company has a fifty day moving average of $42.24 and a 200-day moving average of $40.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

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

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 37.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on BAC. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.26.

Bank of America 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.