Verum Partners LLC Decreases Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Verum Partners LLC cut its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 27.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,790 shares during the quarter. Verum Partners LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. West Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at $250,000. Threadgill Financial LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Threadgill Financial LLC now owns 94,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,179,000 after buying an additional 425 shares during the period. DDD Partners LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth $263,000. Finally, Columbia Trust Co 01012016 boosted its position in Bank of America by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 now owns 70,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,368,000 after buying an additional 10,745 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC traded up $0.74 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $37.83. The company had a trading volume of 36,334,959 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,116,594. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $24.96 and a twelve month high of $37.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $298.50 billion, a PE ratio of 12.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $34.35 and its 200 day moving average is $31.26.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. Bank of America had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 15.42%. The company had revenue of $22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.12 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on Bank of America from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Odeon Capital Group cut shares of Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.90 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Bank of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $41.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Bank of America from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Bank of America from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.65.

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.