Phocas Financial Corp. Makes New $204,000 Investment in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Phocas Financial Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 4,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Collier Financial purchased a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc increased its position in Bank of America by 3,883.2% during the fourth quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 559,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 545,936 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in Bank of America during the third quarter worth $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 152.7% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of BAC opened at $43.96 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $45.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.50. The stock has a market cap of $337.28 billion, a PE ratio of 13.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $33.71 and a 12 month high of $48.08. 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) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BAC. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.58.

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.