Studio Investment Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Studio Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 58,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,548 shares during the quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,971 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in Bank of America by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 180,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,934,000 after purchasing an additional 6,357 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 11,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $517,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 47.8% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC now owns 45,096 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,982,000 after acquiring an additional 14,576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth approximately $363,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of BAC opened at $44.66 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The business has a fifty day moving average of $40.03 and a 200 day moving average of $43.54. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $33.07 and a 52-week high of $48.08. The company has a market cap of $336.38 billion, a PE ratio of 13.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.27.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released 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. The business had revenue of $27.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.83 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.33%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on BAC. Cfra Research lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Bank of America from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.50.

Bank of America Company 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.