Ellis Investment Partners LLC Sells 1,487 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Ellis Investment Partners LLC lessened its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 15.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,487 shares during the period. Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $37,000 after purchasing 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. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its holdings in 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 valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.58.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC stock opened at $46.98 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $360.47 billion, a PE ratio of 14.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $32.49 and a 12-month high of $48.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.10.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors 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 yield of 2.21%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.30%.

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.