Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Grows Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 43.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,226 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $859,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth about $5,226,989,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Bank of America by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,876,853,000 after acquiring an additional 17,031,143 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Bank of America by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 122,437,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,381,126,000 after acquiring an additional 11,691,451 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in Bank of America by 37.1% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 37,819,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,747,658,000 after acquiring an additional 10,231,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Bank of America by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,985,785,000 after acquiring an additional 9,980,859 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BAC shares. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Argus dropped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.69.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $44.61 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $41.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $336.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.85, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.30. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $33.07 and a one year high of $48.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $27.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.83 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 30.95%.

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.