Foster & Motley Inc. Decreases Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Foster & Motley Inc. lessened its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 40.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,246 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $512,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fortis Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter worth $25,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc increased its holdings in Bank of America by 98.1% during the 3rd quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 1,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 192.3% during the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the period. Finally, Private Ocean LLC grew its position 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 worth $43,000 after buying an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $38.32 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $24.96 and a twelve month high of $38.49. The stock has a market cap of $302.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.61.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released 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 net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The company had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. Bank of America’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.51%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised Bank of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $41.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Bank of America from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Bank of America from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Bank of America from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.53.

Bank of America 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.