Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Howe & Rusling Inc.

Howe & Rusling Inc. cut its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 196,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,133 shares during the quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $8,650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Bank of America by 3.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,415,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $611,692,000 after acquiring an additional 569,385 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the third quarter valued at approximately $606,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 18.0% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 10,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $412,000 after purchasing an additional 1,583 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in Bank of America by 48.4% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 14,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $588,000 after purchasing an additional 4,837 shares during the period. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in Bank of America during the 3rd quarter worth $73,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $42.81 on Thursday. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $34.15 and a 52-week high of $48.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $325.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.29, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.86.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. Bank of America’s revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 32.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BAC shares. Baird R W upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. HSBC upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.45.

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.