CENTRAL TRUST Co Boosts Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 227,600 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 7,120 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co's holdings in Bank of America were worth $10,003,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Marino Stram & Associates LLC grew its stake in 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. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 8,291 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the period. Traveka Wealth LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 8,685 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $382,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 37,393 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,484,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.1% in the third quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 20,863 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $828,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:BAC traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $46.97. 7,108,877 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,534,352. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.77. The firm has a market cap of $360.42 billion, a PE ratio of 14.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $32.35 and a fifty-two week high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America's payout ratio is 32.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group raised Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup raised shares of Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $48.58.

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.