Merit Financial Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 34.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 135,385 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 34,881 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $5,950,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Common Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 68.7% during the 4th quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 244,594 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,750,000 after purchasing an additional 99,614 shares during the last quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 18,495 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $813,000 after buying an additional 604 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at about $22,242,000. Woodstock Corp raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 159,727 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,020,000 after acquiring an additional 981 shares during the period. Finally, RDA Financial Network lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 49,706 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,185,000 after acquiring an additional 5,191 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the subject of several research reports. Hsbc Global Res raised Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group raised Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $48.58.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE BAC traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $46.54. The company had a trading volume of 44,307,437 shares, compared to its average volume of 26,125,426. The business has a 50 day moving average of $45.79 and a 200-day moving average of $42.43. The company has a market cap of $357.13 billion, a PE ratio of 16.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $31.40 and a 1-year high of $48.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

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. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.24 EPS for the current year.

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.