WealthTrust Axiom LLC Boosts Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

WealthTrust Axiom LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 681 shares during the quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $559,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc raised its position in Bank of America by 98.1% in the third quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 1,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. ZRC Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 192.3% in the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the period. Finally, Private Ocean LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Private Ocean LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE:BAC opened at $37.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.95. The stock has a market cap of $291.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.39. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $24.96 and a 1 year high of $38.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. The business’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on BAC. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Bank of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $41.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Bank of America from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.59.

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.