Zhang Financial LLC Purchases New Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Zhang Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 8,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $287,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 55,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,515,000 after purchasing an additional 4,187 shares during the period. Eastern Bank grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 354.5% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 119,713 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,278,000 after acquiring an additional 93,375 shares during the period. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 65,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,793,000 after acquiring an additional 2,332 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 228.3% during the 4th quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 67,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,273,000 after acquiring an additional 46,950 shares during the period. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $673,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Bank of America from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Bank of America from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 target price (up previously from $39.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Wolfe Research raised Bank of America from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Bank of America from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.53.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $36.97 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $24.96 and a 12 month high of $38.35. The company has a market cap of $291.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.39.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.06. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. The business had revenue of $25.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.49 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.22%.

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.