Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc Boosts Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,946 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the period. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 31,021.6% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 10,207,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,049,000 after acquiring an additional 10,175,100 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1,432.1% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,151,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $244,627,000 after purchasing an additional 5,749,567 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 193.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 7,608,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $301,898,000 after purchasing an additional 5,015,378 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3,550.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,547,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,804,560,000 after buying an additional 4,423,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D1 Capital Partners L.P. bought a new position in Bank of America in the 3rd quarter worth $174,858,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on BAC. Phillip Securities raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Bank of America from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.50.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $45.09 on Tuesday. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $31.27 and a 1-year high of $48.08. The company’s 50-day moving average is $45.61 and its 200 day moving average is $42.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $345.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 37.82%.

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.