Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Has $17.31 Million Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 393,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 465 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $17,308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 152.7% during the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the period. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 525.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares during the period. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter worth approximately $45,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of BAC opened at $47.43 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $32.35 and a 52 week high of $48.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $363.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on BAC shares. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. HSBC raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.58.

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.