Alpha Financial Advisors LLC Acquires 1,996 Shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Alpha Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 37.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,996 shares during the period. Alpha Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $306,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 142,289,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,243,000,000 after buying an additional 2,033,229 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 122,437,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,381,126,000 after buying an additional 11,691,451 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth $5,226,989,000. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,876,853,000 after buying an additional 17,031,143 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Bank of America by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,985,785,000 after acquiring an additional 9,980,859 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Argus lowered their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Bank of America from $49.50 to $43.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.40.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of BAC stock opened at $46.66 on Wednesday. Bank of America Corporation has a 1 year low of $33.07 and a 1 year high of $48.08. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $351.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.89, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.30.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.10. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.56% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The company had revenue of $27.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.83 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.95%.

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.