Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. Purchases 417 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. raised its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the quarter. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $717,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 8.2% in the third quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 55,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,515,000 after buying an additional 4,187 shares during the period. Eastern Bank boosted its position in Bank of America by 354.5% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 119,713 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,278,000 after acquiring an additional 93,375 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 3.7% in the third quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 65,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,793,000 after purchasing an additional 2,332 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 228.3% during the fourth quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 67,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,273,000 after acquiring an additional 46,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new position in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $673,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $38.33. 8,184,765 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 41,343,398. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $24.96 and a twelve month high of $38.50. The company has a market capitalization of $302.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.28, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.39. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $35.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The firm had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 33.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BAC. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Bank of America from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Bank of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $32.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.53.

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.