Bridgewater Associates LP Invests $13.16 Million in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Bridgewater Associates LP acquired a new stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 331,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,162,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the second quarter worth about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased 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 worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in Bank of America by 525.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 852 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 5,031,014 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.28, for a total transaction of $202,649,243.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 863,977,599 shares in the company, valued at $34,801,017,687.72. This represents a 0.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 70,007,916 shares of company stock worth $2,829,836,123 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $47.77 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $366.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.37, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.32. 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 1 year low of $29.32 and a 1 year high of $47.98. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.92.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report 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, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.26.

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.