Royal Fund Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Royal Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 3.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 334 shares during the period. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its position in Bank of America by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 8,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 492 shares during the period. Auxano Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 234.5% during the 4th quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 27,356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $921,000 after purchasing an additional 19,179 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 65,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,793,000 after buying an additional 2,332 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 228.3% in the fourth quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 67,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,273,000 after buying an additional 46,950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $105,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of BAC stock traded up $0.37 on Monday, reaching $39.86. 1,665,460 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 38,714,855. The company has a market capitalization of $311.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.66, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $38.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $24.96 and a twelve month high of $40.31.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.21 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, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BAC. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. HSBC restated a “hold” rating and set a $39.00 price target (up from $38.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Erste Group Bank raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted 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 note on Thursday, April 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America has an average 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.