Benjamin Edwards Inc. Reduces Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. reduced its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 51.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 26,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 28,213 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $907,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 37,649,708 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,267,666,000 after purchasing an additional 5,484,219 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation raised its holdings in Bank of America by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 1,681,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,959,000 after acquiring an additional 356,204 shares during the period. Rogco LP raised its holdings in Bank of America by 164.8% during the fourth quarter. Rogco LP now owns 16,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $572,000 after acquiring an additional 10,571 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 42,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,438,000 after acquiring an additional 901 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its holdings in Bank of America by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 139,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,711,000 after acquiring an additional 20,907 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on BAC. Odeon Capital Group cut Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.90 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Bank of America from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Bank of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. HSBC restated a “hold” rating and set a $39.00 target price (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Bank of America from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.70.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE:BAC traded up $0.37 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $37.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 33,943,030 shares, compared to its average volume of 40,872,895. The company has a market capitalization of $291.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.37. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $24.96 and a 12 month 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $36.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.01.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $25.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.