NorthRock Partners LLC Acquires 9,020 Shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

NorthRock Partners LLC increased its position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 9.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 100,600 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,020 shares during the quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $4,198,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,876,853,000 after purchasing an additional 17,031,143 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 122,437,422 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,381,126,000 after purchasing an additional 11,691,451 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Bank of America by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,985,785,000 after buying an additional 9,980,859 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Bank of America by 39.6% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 33,152,004 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,457,031,000 after buying an additional 9,409,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in Bank of America by 31.1% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 39,051,595 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,716,318,000 after buying an additional 9,258,040 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,180,656.99. The trade was a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC traded down $1.62 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $45.65. The stock had a trading volume of 52,302,841 shares, compared to its average volume of 43,054,445. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Bank of America Corporation has a 12 month low of $33.06 and a 12 month high of $49.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $343.83 billion, a PE ratio of 13.35, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $46.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.81.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%. The company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. Bank of America's revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This is an increase from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Bank of America from $49.50 to $43.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Cfra Research raised their price objective on Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Bank of America from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Phillip Securities lowered Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.13.

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. It operates in four segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), Global Banking, and Global Markets.