Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Increases Stake in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. grew its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 509,036 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,008 shares during the period. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $26,261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,091,641,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Bank of America by 124.8% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 17,619,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $833,771,000 after buying an additional 9,782,208 shares in the last quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the second quarter worth about $202,439,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 881.5% during the 2nd quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 4,210,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $199,236,000 after acquiring an additional 3,781,417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth about $164,623,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of BAC stock opened at $54.98 on Friday. Bank of America Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $33.06 and a fifty-two week high of $56.54. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $53.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $401.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.98 and a beta of 1.29.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $5.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.05 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BAC shares. Argus lifted their price target on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Ameriprise Financial upgraded Bank of America to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Phillip Securities boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.59.

About Bank of America

Bank of America Corporation is a multinational financial services company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It provides a broad array of banking, investment, asset management and related financial and risk management products and services to individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses, large corporations, governments and institutional investors. The firm operates through consumer banking, global wealth and investment management, global banking and markets businesses, offering capabilities across lending, deposits, payments, advisory and capital markets.

Its consumer-facing offerings include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, home equity lending, auto loans, credit cards and small business banking, supported by a nationwide branch network and digital channels.