World Equity Group Inc. Increases Position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

World Equity Group Inc. increased its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 60,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 859 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.0%

BAC opened at $45.51 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Bank of America Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.07 and a 1-year high of $48.08. The company has a market capitalization of $342.78 billion, a PE ratio of 13.54, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.33.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.10. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.56% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The company had revenue of $27.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.83 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut 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. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Baird R W raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Cfra Research upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.69.

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.