Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Raises Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 214,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,830 shares during the quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $7,236,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 55,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,515,000 after purchasing an additional 4,187 shares in the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 8,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 234.5% in the 4th quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 27,356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $921,000 after purchasing an additional 19,179 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 65,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,793,000 after purchasing an additional 2,332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 228.3% in the 4th quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 67,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,273,000 after purchasing an additional 46,950 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. HSBC restated a “hold” rating and set a $39.00 price target (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, March 28th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.70.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.4 %

BAC stock traded up $0.53 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $39.70. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 22,166,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,858,416. 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 $39.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $310.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.74, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.39.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.06. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The company had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.22%.

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.