Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Sold by Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 22.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 272,718 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 78,921 shares during the period. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $11,986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 152.7% in the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $70,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Phillip Securities upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, HSBC raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.58.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $47.43 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $32.35 and a twelve month high of $48.08. The firm has a market cap of $363.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50 day moving average of $45.77 and a 200-day moving average of $42.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. Bank of America’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.69 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, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.30%.

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.