Blue Trust Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 12.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 69,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,630 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BAC. United Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 18,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $774,000 after acquiring an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter worth approximately $92,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 49,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,076,000 after purchasing an additional 1,765 shares in the last quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC grew its position in Bank of America by 2.1% during the first quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 89,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,727,000 after buying an additional 1,805 shares during the period. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 29.6% in the 1st quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 7,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 1,820 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $45.02 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $339.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $41.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Bank of America Corporation has a 12-month low of $33.07 and a 12-month high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.10. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.56% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The company had revenue of $27.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.83 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Bank of America from $49.50 to $43.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Bank of America from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded Bank of America from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.69.

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.