NEW YORK -- Bank of America Corp.'s third-quarter profit fell 68 percent and the bank says it's selling stock and halving its dividend to boost capital.

Like most other major financial institutions, Bank of America has been hit by significant losses in mortgages, credit cards and other souring debt.

Profit fell to $1.18 billion, or 15 cents per share, for the July-to-September period from $3.7 billion, or 82 cents per share, in the same period last year. That's much lower than analysts' estimates of 62 cents per share, according to Thomson Financial.

To raise capital, the Charlotte, N.C.-based company says it plans to sell $10 billion of common stock and cut its quarterly dividend to 32 cents from 64 cents.