20,568 Shares in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Acquired by Hickory Point Bank & Trust

Hickory Point Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 20,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $904,000. Bank of America accounts for approximately 0.8% of Hickory Point Bank & Trust’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $538,000. PCG Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth $663,000. Sherman Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth about $113,000. Onefund LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Onefund LLC now owns 18,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $802,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nixon Peabody Trust Co. increased its stake in Bank of America by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 301,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,246,000 after buying an additional 894 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC stock opened at $46.19 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $34.03 and a 12 month high of $48.08. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $45.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.59. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $354.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BAC shares. Oppenheimer increased their target price 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. HSBC raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America 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.