Putney Financial Group LLC Buys New Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $303,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 108,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,785,000 after acquiring an additional 25,143 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 68,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,031,000 after acquiring an additional 7,133 shares in the last quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC now owns 32,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,422,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $201,000. Finally, Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $477,000 after acquiring an additional 2,938 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $43.20 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $33.07 and a 1-year high of $48.08. The stock has a market cap of $325.38 billion, a PE ratio of 13.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $40.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.60.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.10. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The business had revenue of $27.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.83 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $49.50 to $43.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Phillip Securities raised shares of Bank of America from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.