Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Raises Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. raised its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,597,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Field & Main Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 25,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $855,000 after purchasing an additional 1,410 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,315,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $178,960,000 after buying an additional 78,408 shares during the period. Steele Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $727,000. Altrius Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 114,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,864,000 after acquiring an additional 1,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. now owns 45,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,541,000 after purchasing an additional 3,375 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $37.01 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $36.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.95. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $24.96 and a 12 month high of $38.49. The company has a market cap of $291.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.80, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.39. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $25.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BAC. Morgan Stanley raised Bank of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Odeon Capital Group downgraded shares of Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.90 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Barclays increased their target price 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 boosted their price target on Bank of America from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.59.

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.