Freedom Investment Management Inc. Acquires 3,910 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 30,917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,910 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Accent Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 43.0% in the 3rd quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 39,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,567,000 after purchasing an additional 11,873 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments grew its stake in Bank of America by 237.6% during the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 51,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,035,000 after purchasing an additional 36,089 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP grew its stake in Bank of America by 125.8% during the third 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 during the period. Banco Santander S.A. grew its stake in Bank of America by 173.7% during the third quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 583,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,150,000 after purchasing an additional 370,275 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in Bank of America by 27.1% during the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 98,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,734,000 after purchasing an additional 20,916 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.0 %

BAC stock opened at $47.76 on Thursday. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $29.32 and a twelve month high of $47.98. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $42.73 and its 200-day moving average is $40.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $366.46 billion, a PE ratio of 17.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,031,639 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.66, for a total value of $326,566,441.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 874,692,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,564,987,454.24. This trade represents a 0.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 77,946,615 shares of company stock worth $3,152,226,690. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Oppenheimer raised their target price 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. Citigroup raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.