Sowell Financial Services LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Sowell Financial Services LLC lessened its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 247,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,922 shares during the quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $10,856,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 2,028,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,150,000 after buying an additional 10,377 shares in the last quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 43.0% in the third quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 39,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,567,000 after acquiring an additional 11,873 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments boosted its stake in Bank of America by 237.6% in the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 51,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,035,000 after acquiring an additional 36,089 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 3,458,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $152,006,000 after purchasing an additional 38,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 140,255,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,546,871,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700,141 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $41.39 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $34.15 and a 12 month high of $48.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $314.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.51%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. Barclays upped their target price on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.64.

Bank of America Company 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.