Wallington Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 12.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 263,408 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 28,160 shares during the quarter. Wallington Asset Management LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $10,452,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 36,124,363 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Bank of America by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 57,539,506 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,288,347,000 after acquiring an additional 895,884 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Bank of America by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,354,449 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,530,241,000 after acquiring an additional 165,070 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 21,465,791 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $813,983,000 after acquiring an additional 954,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 23.6% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 16,260,822 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $646,693,000 after acquiring an additional 3,109,197 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Shares of BAC opened at $42.34 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $331.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $24.96 and a twelve month high of $44.44. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.11 and a 200-day moving average of $39.53. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Bank of America declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.
The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.99%.
In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 7,526,661 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.70, for a total value of $313,861,763.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 966,911,316 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,320,201,877.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $402,355.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,907 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 7,526,661 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.70, for a total transaction of $313,861,763.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 966,911,316 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,320,201,877.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 132,863,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,363,830,468 in the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays upped their target price 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. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Bank of America from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.69.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on BAC
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.
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