Sonora Investment Management Group LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Sonora Investment Management Group LLC lowered its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 492 shares during the quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marino Stram & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 13,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 8,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 0.6% in the third quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 37,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,484,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in Bank of America by 1.1% during the third quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 20,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $828,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Southland Equity Partners LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 9,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.58.

Bank of America Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE:BAC opened at $46.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $354.84 billion, a PE ratio of 14.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50-day moving average of $45.85 and a 200 day moving average of $42.76. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $32.35 and a 1-year high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

About Bank of America

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.