Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Bahl & Gaynor Inc.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,258,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 128,209 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $109,698,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 98.1% in the 3rd quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 1,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 192.3% in the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Ocean LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Private Ocean LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BAC shares. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Bank of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.53.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $37.83 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $36.13 and a 200-day moving average of $32.72. The company has a market capitalization of $298.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.09, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.39. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $38.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The company had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 33.22%.

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.