Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC lessened its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 10.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 46,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,348 shares during the quarter. Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,572,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rogco LP raised its stake in Bank of America by 164.8% in the 4th quarter. Rogco LP now owns 16,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $572,000 after purchasing an additional 10,571 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 42,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,438,000 after buying an additional 901 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 139,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,711,000 after buying an additional 20,907 shares during the last quarter. Searle & CO. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 22.1% in the fourth quarter. Searle & CO. now owns 245,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,263,000 after buying an additional 44,351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its position in Bank of America by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 87,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,937,000 after acquiring an additional 12,319 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on BAC. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Bank of America from $39.50 to $40.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Bank of America from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Bank of America from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.70.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of BAC traded down $0.04 during trading on Thursday, reaching $36.91. 7,775,803 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 40,619,352. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $24.96 and a twelve month high of $38.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.98. The stock has a market cap of $291.24 billion, a PE ratio of 12.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.37.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued 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 return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. The business had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 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.