Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. Invests $1.24 Million in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 28,175 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,238,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,415,630 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $611,692,000 after acquiring an additional 569,385 shares in the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,971 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $526,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116 shares in the last quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,611 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $818,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 9,846 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $433,000 after acquiring an additional 1,581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 149,812 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,584,000 after acquiring an additional 3,608 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE BAC traded up $1.56 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $43.35. 44,844,082 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 39,371,365. The company has a market cap of $326.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.49. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $33.07 and a 1 year high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $27.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.83 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. On average, analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. Bank of America's payout ratio is 30.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Robert W. Baird raised Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Bank of America from $49.50 to $43.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Bank of America from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.25.

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.