Picton Mahoney Asset Management Increases Stock Position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 23.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 586,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 111,530 shares during the quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $24,479,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc increased its position in Bank of America by 53.0% during the 4th quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:BAC opened at $48.23 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $363.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.10, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $45.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.74. Bank of America Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.06 and a 52 week high of $49.31.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%. The business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BAC. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Bank of America from $49.50 to $43.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Cfra Research lifted their price target on Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.03.

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.