Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,663 shares during the quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $930,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 152.7% in the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in Bank of America by 525.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 852 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter valued at about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on BAC shares. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.58.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC opened at $47.11 on Thursday. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $32.35 and a 52-week high of $48.08. The company has a 50 day moving average of $45.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.82. The company has a market cap of $361.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

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

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 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 presently 32.30%.

Bank of America 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.