Bank of America Corporation $BAC Shares Sold by Ethic Inc.

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. reduced its holdings in Bank of America by 27.4% during the 2nd quarter, selling 97,194 shares and leaving it with 257,311 shares valued at approximately $12.12 million.
• Insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of Bank of America on August 1st, declining their ownership by 39.91% and leaving them with shares valued at around $10.18 million.
• Bank of America recently announced a share repurchase plan allowing up to $40 billion in stock buybacks, indicating that leadership believes the stock may be undervalued.

Ethic Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 27.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 257,311 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 97,194 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $12,124,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $4,785,000 after acquiring an additional 25,143 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 8.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 111,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,654,000 after purchasing an additional 8,435 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 0.8% during the first quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 34,157 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 2.7% in the first quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,748 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $782,000 after buying an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 32.9% in the first quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 22,196 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $926,000 after buying an additional 5,489 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total transaction of $6,762,177.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at $10,180,656.99. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on BAC shares. Phillip Securities upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $58.00 target price (up previously from $57.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, October 16th. HSBC raised their price target on Bank of America from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.23.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC stock opened at $51.39 on Wednesday. Bank of America Corporation has a 12-month low of $33.06 and a 12-month high of $52.88. The company has a market cap of $380.61 billion, a PE ratio of 14.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $50.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.04.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.13. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 15.70%.The company had revenue of $28.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.81 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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