Life Planning Partners Inc Decreases Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Life Planning Partners Inc cut its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,742 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,317 shares during the period. Life Planning Partners Inc’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $560,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Bank of America by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,940,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $173,168,000 after purchasing an additional 173,021 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth approximately $60,679,000. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 2,028,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,150,000 after buying an additional 10,377 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 3,458,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $152,006,000 after buying an additional 38,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 42,929,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,886,769,000 after buying an additional 297,858 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on BAC. HSBC raised 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. Barclays raised their price target on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.45.

Bank of America Stock Down 3.1 %

BAC stock opened at $41.24 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $313.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.81, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $34.15 and a 1-year high of $48.08. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $44.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.