Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 46,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 250 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises approximately 1.3% of Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.45.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $42.81 on Thursday. 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 Co. has a one year low of $34.15 and a one year high of $48.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $325.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.29, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s fifty day moving average is $44.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.86.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

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.