First National Bank of Hutchinson Invests $576,000 in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

First National Bank of Hutchinson acquired a new stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 13,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $576,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Collier Financial bought a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 152.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the period. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 68.2% in the fourth quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC stock opened at $42.24 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $44.94 and its 200 day moving average is $43.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $321.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.12, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $34.15 and a 12 month high of $48.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, HSBC raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.64.

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.