Marietta Investment Partners LLC Buys 8,307 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Marietta Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 21.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 47,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,307 shares during the quarter. Marietta Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,091,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc lifted its stake in Bank of America by 3,883.2% in the fourth quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 559,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 545,936 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 152.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the period. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 68.2% during the fourth quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.0 %

NYSE BAC opened at $42.47 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $34.15 and a 12 month high of $48.08. The company has a market capitalization of $322.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.77.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BAC shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. HSBC upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.64.

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.