Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC Purchases 3,039 Shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 29.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,039 shares during the quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $552,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Hayek Kallen Investment Management boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management now owns 12,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 16,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $734,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 20,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $906,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 1.8% in the first quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc now owns 14,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $600,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust boosted its position in Bank of America by 1.4% in the first quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 18,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $45.83 on Tuesday. Bank of America Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.06 and a twelve month high of $49.31. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $46.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.76. The firm has a market cap of $339.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.40, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.31.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 30.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 148,391 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.57, for a total transaction of $6,762,177.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 223,407 shares in the company, valued at $10,180,656.99. This trade represents a 39.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $53.00 price objective for the company. Finally, HSBC cut Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $51.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.13.

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.