Benjamin Edwards Inc. Has $907,000 Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lowered its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 51.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 28,213 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Fortis Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 98.1% in the third quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 1,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 192.3% in the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Ocean LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Private Ocean LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC traded up $0.37 during trading on Friday, reaching $37.25. 33,943,030 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 40,872,895. The company’s 50 day moving average is $36.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $291.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.89, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $38.49.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. The company had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. Bank of America’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 33.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on BAC. Wolfe Research upgraded Bank of America from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $39.00 price objective (up from $38.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price target (up previously from $39.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Bank of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $32.00 to $41.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Bank of America from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.70.

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.