Rathbones Group PLC Reduces Position in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Rathbones Group PLC decreased its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 17.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,005,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 213,170 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $47,563,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BAC. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 30.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 108,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,785,000 after buying an additional 25,143 shares in the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $701,000 after acquiring an additional 857 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 59,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,491,000 after acquiring an additional 3,501 shares during the last quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 22.0% in the first quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 19,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $832,000 after purchasing an additional 3,595 shares during the period. Finally, Beirne Wealth Consulting Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 10.1% in the first quarter. Beirne Wealth Consulting Services LLC now owns 10,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Seaport Global Securities lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Bank of America from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 target price (up previously from $57.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.86.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $53.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $388.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.50, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $51.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.57. Bank of America Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $33.06 and a fifty-two week high of $53.99.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.13. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 15.70%.The company had revenue of $28.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 30.52%.

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.