Savant Capital LLC Decreases Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Savant Capital LLC lessened its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 207,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,046 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $6,978,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BAC. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the period. Kennedy Investment Group increased its stake in Bank of America by 0.6% in the 4th 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 period. Private Ocean LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 34.0% in the 4th 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 period. Selective Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Bank of America by 2.0% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,770 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of BAC stock opened at $37.31 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.95. The firm has a market cap of $294.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.80, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.39. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $24.96 and a 1-year high of $38.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The company’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.19 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective (up from $38.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report 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 given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.