Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Decreases Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC decreased its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 390 shares during the quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BAC. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 39,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,309,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 17,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $586,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Fort Point Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.2% during the first quarter. Fort Point Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,918 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $656,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the period. Morton Capital Management LLC CA increased its holdings in Bank of America by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 10,628 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the period. Finally, Sweet Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Sweet Financial Partners LLC now owns 19,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $658,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE BAC opened at $37.92 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $24.96 and a one year high of $38.00. The firm has a market cap of $299.21 billion, a PE ratio of 12.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $34.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. Bank of America had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 15.42%. The company had revenue of $22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.70 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 29th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 31.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised Bank of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $39.00 price target (up from $38.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday. Odeon Capital Group lowered Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.90 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.15.

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.