Avity Investment Management Inc. Buys 2,500 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Avity Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 4.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 54,750 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,076,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BAC. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 431.0% in the 4th quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 862 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:BAC traded up $0.52 on Friday, hitting $39.77. 52,028,200 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,164,596. The stock has a market capitalization of $311.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.36. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $40.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $38.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.06.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. Bank of America’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. HSBC restated a “hold” rating and issued a $39.00 target price (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 target price (up previously from $39.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.79.

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.