Vanguard Group Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 657,834,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,180,659 shares during the period. Bank of America comprises about 0.5% of Vanguard Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 8.57% of Bank of America worth $28,911,842,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BAC. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3,883.2% in the fourth quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 559,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 545,936 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 152.7% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 68.2% in the fourth quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Hsbc Global Res raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.64.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of BAC stock opened at $42.47 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $34.15 and a twelve month high of $48.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The business’s 50 day moving average is $44.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.79. The company has a market capitalization of $322.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. Bank of America’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 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.