Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Sells 9,376 Shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 827,408 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,376 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $34,528,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 7.8% in the first quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 696,416 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,061,000 after acquiring an additional 50,296 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 158,455 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $69,640,000 after buying an additional 17,880 shares during the period. Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the first quarter worth about $998,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 37.2% during the 1st quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 65,038 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,714,000 after purchasing an additional 17,619 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 170.5% during the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 238,473 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,951,000 after purchasing an additional 150,299 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock traded down $1.62 during trading on Friday, reaching $45.65. 52,302,792 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 43,048,586. The company has a market capitalization of $343.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Bank of America Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.06 and a 52-week high of $49.31.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.81%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on BAC. Wall Street Zen cut Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Argus dropped their price target on Bank of America from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Bank of America from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.13.

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.