Sentinel Trust Co. LBA Raises Stock Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Sentinel Trust Co. LBA grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 23.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 27,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,285 shares during the quarter. Sentinel Trust Co. LBA’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 3,883.2% during the 4th quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 559,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 545,936 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 152.7% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.58.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC stock opened at $44.17 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $338.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.72, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $45.74 and its 200 day moving average is $43.50. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $34.03 and a 1-year high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

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.