Forbes J M & Co. LLP Reduces Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Forbes J M & Co. LLP cut its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 431,621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,269 shares during the period. Bank of America comprises about 1.8% of Forbes J M & Co. LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Forbes J M & Co. LLP’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $16,367,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Bank of America in the first quarter worth approximately $8,342,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 107,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,078,000 after buying an additional 3,553 shares in the last quarter. &PARTNERS boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 168.7% in the 1st quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 36,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,371,000 after buying an additional 22,708 shares in the last quarter. Matthew Goff Investment Advisor LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Matthew Goff Investment Advisor LLC now owns 476,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,081,000 after purchasing an additional 10,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Werlinich Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America in the 1st quarter valued at about $210,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Citigroup increased their target price on Bank of America from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Bank of America from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Friday, June 14th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Bank of America from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $39.00 target price (up from $38.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.79.

Bank of America Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of BAC stock traded down $0.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $39.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 72,251,511 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,317,156. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.79. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $40.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $308.83 billion, a PE ratio of 13.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.36.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.49 billion. During the same period in the previous 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 research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Bank of America’s 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.