Prentice Wealth Management LLC Raises Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Prentice Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 34.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,331 shares during the quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $481,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 108,111.3% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 193,168,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,397,725,000 after acquiring an additional 192,989,515 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,436,543,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 127,177,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,212,128,000 after buying an additional 23,532,190 shares during the period. Berkshire Hathaway Inc lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 1,032,852,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,539,567,000 after buying an additional 22,751,400 shares during the period. Finally, Snider Financial Group lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 9,477.3% in the 1st quarter. Snider Financial Group now owns 14,448,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,956,000 after buying an additional 14,297,496 shares during the period. 68.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Bank of America in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Bank of America from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Bank of America from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd. HSBC started coverage on Bank of America in a report on Thursday, September 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Bank of America from $32.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Friday, July 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.98.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 75,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.53, for a total value of $2,364,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 185,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,836,455.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 75,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.53, for a total value of $2,364,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 185,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,836,455.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Dean C. Athanasia sold 77,806 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.48, for a total value of $2,449,332.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 353,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,143,007.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.1 %

BAC stock opened at $29.20 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $26.32 and a twelve month high of $38.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market cap of $232.03 billion, a PE ratio of 8.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50 day moving average of $29.96 and a 200 day moving average of $29.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $25.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.98 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 19.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.73 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 1st will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 31st. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.59%.

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. Its Consumer Banking segment offers traditional and money market savings accounts, certificates of deposit and IRAs, noninterest-and interest-bearing checking accounts, and investment accounts and products; and credit and debit cards, residential mortgages, and home equity loans, as well as direct and indirect loans, such as automotive, recreational vehicle, and consumer personal loans.