Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Bought by Ashton Thomas Securities LLC

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 191.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,254 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,623 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $977,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BAC. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA now owns 20,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $879,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 1,719 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 8,880 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 13,204 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $580,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keudell Morrison Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 8,291 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $364,000 after buying an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

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Bank of America Price Performance

Bank of America stock traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $42.72. The stock had a trading volume of 12,287,901 shares, compared to its average volume of 35,746,615. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $34.15 and a 1-year high of $48.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $324.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The stock's fifty day moving average is $44.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America's payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Baird R W raised Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. HSBC upgraded Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $48.45.

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.