Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. Sells 634 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. lowered its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 634 shares during the period. Bank of America accounts for about 0.9% of Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,949,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 140,255,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,546,871,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700,141 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 59,613,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,620,028,000 after purchasing an additional 2,806,927 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 46,887,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,060,703,000 after purchasing an additional 1,671,610 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 42,929,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,886,769,000 after purchasing an additional 297,858 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 37,819,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,747,658,000 after buying an additional 10,231,001 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 1.4 %

Bank of America stock opened at $41.47 on Tuesday. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $34.15 and a 52-week high of $48.08. The company has a market cap of $315.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.77.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. HSBC raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.64.

About Bank of America

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.