Mezzasalma Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Mezzasalma Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 23.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,121 shares during the period. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in Bank of America by 525.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter valued at $45,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BAC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. HSBC upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Phillip Securities upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.58.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $47.43 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $363.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $32.35 and a twelve month high of $48.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.88.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 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 business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.69 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. 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 2.19%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.30%.

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.