Guardian Investment Management Trims Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Guardian Investment Management trimmed its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,588 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,391 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises 2.2% of Guardian Investment Management’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Guardian Investment Management’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,713,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BAC. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc raised its position in Bank of America by 98.1% during the third quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 1,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Bank of America during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, ZRC Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 192.3% during the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on BAC shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Bank of America from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price target (up from $39.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Bank of America from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Bank of America from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.29.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC traded up $0.63 during trading on Thursday, reaching $35.86. The stock had a trading volume of 28,660,105 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,362,863. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.79. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $35.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.21. The stock has a market cap of $282.96 billion, a PE ratio of 12.37, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.39. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $24.96 and a 1-year high of $38.35.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $25.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.22%.

Bank of America 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.