Howard Financial Services LTD. Trims Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Howard Financial Services LTD. lessened its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 12.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 994 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $256,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 431.0% during the 4th quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 862 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $39.50 to $40.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.79.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE BAC traded up $0.52 on Friday, hitting $39.77. 50,630,957 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 38,955,773. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $24.96 and a 1-year high of $40.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $38.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $311.02 billion, a PE ratio of 13.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.36.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $25.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.22 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

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

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.