Griffin Asset Management Inc. Grows Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Griffin Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 324,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,080 shares during the quarter. Bank of America makes up 1.5% of Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $12,322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ethos Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 8,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 492 shares during the period. Auxano Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 234.5% during the 4th quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 27,356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $921,000 after acquiring an additional 19,179 shares during the period. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,332 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $2,273,000 after purchasing an additional 46,950 shares during the period. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $105,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Bank of America from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Bank of America from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 target price (up from $39.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.79.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.3 %

BAC stock traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $39.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 52,028,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,164,596. The company has a market cap of $311.02 billion, a PE ratio of 13.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $38.91 and its 200-day moving average is $36.06. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $24.96 and a 12 month high of $40.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $25.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 33.22%.

Bank of America Company 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.