Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 52.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,182 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 13,081 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 108,872 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,785,000 after purchasing an additional 25,143 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 40.5% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,401 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,174 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new stake in Bank of America in the second quarter worth approximately $442,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 4.2% in the second quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 52,061 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,464,000 after purchasing an additional 2,118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 7.9% in the second quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,717 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,785,000 after buying an additional 2,756 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BAC shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Bank of America from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Bank of America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Bank of America from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.30.
View Our Latest Research Report on BAC
Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America
In other news, insider Bernard A. Mensah sold 94,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.94, for a total transaction of $4,412,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 170,184 shares in the company, valued at $7,988,436.96. This trade represents a 35.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Thomas M. Scrivener sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.82, for a total transaction of $2,491,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 227,973 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,357,614.86. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 227,832 shares of company stock valued at $11,094,960. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.
Bank of America News Roundup
Here are the key news stories impacting Bank of America this week:
Bank of America Trading Down 0.9%
NYSE BAC opened at $46.72 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Bank of America Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.06 and a 52 week high of $57.55. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $52.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.48. The company has a market cap of $335.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.28.
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. Bank of America had a return on equity of 11.07% and a net margin of 16.23%.The company had revenue of $4.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $27.73 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. Bank of America's quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Bank of America Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.24%.
About Bank of America
(
Free Report)
Bank of America Corporation is a multinational financial services company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It provides a broad array of banking, investment, asset management and related financial and risk management products and services to individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses, large corporations, governments and institutional investors. The firm operates through consumer banking, global wealth and investment management, global banking and markets businesses, offering capabilities across lending, deposits, payments, advisory and capital markets.
Its consumer-facing offerings include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, home equity lending, auto loans, credit cards and small business banking, supported by a nationwide branch network and digital channels.
Featured Stories

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
Before you consider Bank of America, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Bank of America wasn't on the list.
While Bank of America currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here

We are about to experience the greatest A.I. boom in stock market history...
Thanks to a pivotal economic catalyst, specific tech stocks will skyrocket just like they did during the "dot com" boom in the 1990s.
That’s why, we’ve hand-selected 7 tiny tech disruptor stocks positioned to surge.
- The first pick is a tiny under-the-radar A.I. stock that's trading for just $3.00. This company already has 98 registered patents for cutting-edge voice and sound recognition technology... And has lined up major partnerships with some of the biggest names in the auto, tech, and music industry... plus many more.
- The second pick presents an affordable avenue to bolster EVs and AI development…. Analysts are calling this stock a “buy” right now and predict a high price target of $19.20, substantially more than its current $6 trading price.
- Our final and favorite pick is generating a brand-new kind of AI. It's believed this tech will be bigger than the current well-known leader in this industry… Analysts predict this innovative tech is gearing up to create a tidal wave of new wealth, fueling a $15.7 TRILLION market boom.
Right now, we’re staring down the barrel of a true once-in-a-lifetime moment. As an investment opportunity, this kind of breakthrough doesn't come along every day.
And the window to get in on the ground-floor — maximizing profit potential from this expected market surge — is closing quickly...
Simply click the link below to get the names and tickers of the 7 small stocks with potential to make investors very, very happy.
Get This Free Report