Investment Advisory Group LLC Buys New Shares in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Investment Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. United Asset Strategies Inc. boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 251.9% in the fourth quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 327,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,015,000 after acquiring an additional 234,172 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 150,105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,054,000 after purchasing an additional 9,946 shares in the last quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 30,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,034,000 after buying an additional 10,994 shares during the period. Capital Analysts LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 80,563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,712,000 after acquiring an additional 2,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keel Point LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 19,778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $666,000 after purchasing an additional 1,284 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC traded down $1.18 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $34.77. 50,377,402 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 40,557,281. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $35.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.14. The company has a market cap of $274.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.26, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $38.35.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. Bank of America had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.70 billion. The business’s revenue was down 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on BAC shares. Erste Group Bank upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Odeon Capital Group cut shares of Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.90 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Bank of America from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Bank of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $41.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.29.

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.