Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Increases Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 43.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,581 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,226 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $859,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Bank of America by 30.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 108,872 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,785,000 after purchasing an additional 25,143 shares in the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $272,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 37.4% in the fourth quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,951 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $701,000 after buying an additional 4,342 shares in the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 6,342 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 31,493 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,384,000 after buying an additional 949 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Trading Down 1.3%

NYSE:BAC traded down $0.59 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $44.04. 43,276,878 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 39,751,325. The firm has a market cap of $331.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.68, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.44. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $33.07 and a 52-week high of $48.08. 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 (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.10. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The business had revenue of $27.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.83 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Bank of America's payout ratio is currently 30.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on BAC. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays reduced their target price on Bank of America from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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, Wall Street Zen cut Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.69.

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.