Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Purchases 2,926 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 82,971 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,926 shares during the period. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,794,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Investment Group boosted its stake in Bank of America by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 58,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,953,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Private Ocean LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Private Ocean LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of America by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 17,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $586,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morton Capital Management LLC CA boosted its stake in Bank of America by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 10,628 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BAC shares. Erste Group Bank raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Bank of America from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Odeon Capital Group lowered Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.90 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on Bank of America from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Bank of America from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.53.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC stock opened at $37.75 on Tuesday. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $24.96 and a 52-week high of $38.35. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $297.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $35.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.48.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.54%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 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.