Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Decreases Stock Holdings in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. trimmed its position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 921,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 18,248 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $43,620,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 39.9% in the second quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 622,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,471,000 after buying an additional 177,642 shares during the period. Ledyard National Bank increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 2.1% in the second quarter. Ledyard National Bank now owns 11,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $529,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the period. Hutchinson Capital Management CA increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 6.4% in the second quarter. Hutchinson Capital Management CA now owns 557,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,373,000 after buying an additional 33,645 shares during the period. Coign Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 2.1% in the second quarter. Coign Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $701,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 8.5% in the second quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 2,186,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $103,474,000 after acquiring an additional 172,154 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on BAC. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Bank of America from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Bank of America from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Twenty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.45.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC stock opened at $52.98 on Friday. Bank of America Corporation has a 12 month low of $33.06 and a 12 month high of $53.44. The stock has a market cap of $392.40 billion, a PE ratio of 14.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $50.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.84.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $28.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.05 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 30.52%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.