HM Payson & Co. Increases Stock Position in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

HM Payson & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 51.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 411,444 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 140,071 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $17,170,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 142,289,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,243,000,000 after buying an additional 2,033,229 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 122,437,422 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,381,126,000 after acquiring an additional 11,691,451 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth $5,226,989,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,876,853,000 after acquiring an additional 17,031,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,985,785,000 after acquiring an additional 9,980,859 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $53.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Bank of America from $49.50 to $43.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Bank of America from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $48.28.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE:BAC traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $48.51. The stock had a trading volume of 24,297,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 40,120,854. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $365.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $44.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.44. Bank of America Corporation has a one year low of $33.07 and a one year high of $49.31.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.10. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.56% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The company had revenue of $27.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.83 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. Bank of America's payout ratio is 30.95%.

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.