Marietta Investment Partners LLC Acquires 37,324 Shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Marietta Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 78.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 84,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,324 shares during the period. Marietta Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,543,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 142,289,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,243,000,000 after buying an additional 2,033,229 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 10.6% in the 4th 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. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 23.9% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Bank of America by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,985,785,000 after acquiring an additional 9,980,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Bank of America by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 60,417,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,521,218,000 after purchasing an additional 803,570 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Phillip Securities raised shares of Bank of America from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Bank of America from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.03.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $48.47 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Bank of America Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.06 and a twelve month high of $49.31. The company has a fifty day moving average of $45.91 and a 200-day moving average of $43.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $365.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.30.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The business had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.79 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 30.41%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.