Apriem Advisors Trims Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Apriem Advisors lowered its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 17.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 28,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,230 shares during the quarter. Apriem Advisors’ holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1,306.5% during the 4th quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 1,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $43.96 on Thursday. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $33.71 and a 1 year high of $48.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $45.72 and its 200 day moving average is $43.50. The company has a market cap of $337.28 billion, a PE ratio of 13.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm 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 firm earned $0.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BAC shares. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.58.

About Bank of America

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.