Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund reduced its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,672,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,269,700 shares during the period. Bank of America makes up approximately 0.7% of Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $304,425,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.6% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 29,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,129,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares during the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America in the first quarter valued at $237,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 2.4% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 237,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,007,000 after buying an additional 5,666 shares in the last quarter. Montchanin Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America in the first quarter valued at $516,000. Finally, Rokos Capital Management LLP purchased a new position in Bank of America in the first quarter valued at $114,947,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 shares were sold at an average price of $40.66, for a total transaction of $326,566,441.74. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 874,692,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,564,987,454.24. This trade represents a 0.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 77,946,615 shares of company stock valued at $3,152,226,690. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $47.74 on Wednesday. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $29.32 and a twelve month high of $47.84. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $366.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.32. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors 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 yield of 2.18%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Phillip Securities raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.