Howe & Rusling Inc. Sells 8,133 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Howe & Rusling Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 196,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,133 shares during the quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $8,650,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc grew its holdings 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 worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 545,936 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, 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 purchasing an additional 510 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of BAC opened at $42.81 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $325.45 billion, a PE ratio of 13.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $34.15 and a 12-month high of $48.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The company’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 32.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BAC. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Baird R W upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.45.

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.