Avity Investment Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Avity Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 4.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 54,750 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Avity Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 431.0% during the 4th quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 862 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Bank of America stock traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $39.77. 52,028,200 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,164,596. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-month high of $40.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $311.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.06.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $25.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.22 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. HSBC reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $39.00 price target (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $39.50 to $40.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.79.

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.