Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Bleakley Financial Group LLC

Bleakley Financial Group LLC decreased its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 131,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,583 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $5,764,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 30.1% during the fourth quarter. Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $567,000 after buying an additional 2,981 shares in the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $930,000 after buying an additional 1,663 shares during the period. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 10,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $453,000 after buying an additional 476 shares during the period. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth about $230,000. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 28,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,274,000 after buying an additional 4,163 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Phillip Securities raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.58.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.8 %

BAC stock opened at $47.11 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $361.45 billion, a PE ratio of 14.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $45.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $32.35 and a one year high of $48.08.

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

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.