Balentine LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Balentine LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 32.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,447 shares during the quarter. Balentine LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $307,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 31.2% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 655 shares during the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322 shares during the last quarter. Diligent Investors LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 69,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,907,000 after buying an additional 1,593 shares during the period. Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,884 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 44.2% during the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 186,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,114,000 after buying an additional 57,230 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $39.76 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $39.81. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.23. The stock has a market cap of $310.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.76, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.37.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $25.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 33.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BAC. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $39.50 to $40.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.70.

Bank of America Company Profile

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.