Arnhold LLC Buys 6,779 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Arnhold LLC increased its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 300,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,779 shares during the period. Arnhold LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $10,110,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 8.2% during the third quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 55,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,515,000 after buying an additional 4,187 shares during the last quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 234.5% in the fourth quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 27,356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $921,000 after purchasing an additional 19,179 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Bank of America by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 65,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,793,000 after purchasing an additional 2,332 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 228.3% during the 4th quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 67,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,273,000 after buying an additional 46,950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth $673,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Bank of America from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. HSBC reissued a “hold” rating and set a $39.00 price target (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Bank of America from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.59.

Bank of America Price Performance

Bank of America stock traded down $0.54 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $37.01. 30,280,209 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 41,130,859. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-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 moving average of $36.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.95. The company has a market cap of $291.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.80, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.39.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $25.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.19 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 33.22%.

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.