New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Raises Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 14.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 413,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,600 shares during the quarter. Bank of America makes up 0.6% of New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $17,038,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Vicus Capital raised its stake in Bank of America by 15.3% in the first quarter. Vicus Capital now owns 12,069 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 1,603 shares during the last quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 52.0% in the first quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC now owns 11,105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.2% in the first quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 317,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,023,000 after purchasing an additional 6,904 shares during the period. WoodTrust Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 185.6% in the first quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 23,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,000 after purchasing an additional 15,096 shares during the period. Finally, Griffin Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.3% in the first quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 324,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,322,000 after purchasing an additional 1,080 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $39.77. The stock had a trading volume of 52,028,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,164,596. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $24.96 and a 1 year high of $40.34. The company has a market capitalization of $311.02 billion, a PE ratio of 13.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.10.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $25.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research raised Bank of America from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Bank of America from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Bank of America from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Citigroup raised their target price on Bank of America from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.79.

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.