Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Reduces Holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA decreased its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 3.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,322,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 513,172 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.19% of Bank of America worth $597,681,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. TAGStone Capital Inc. grew its holdings in Bank of America by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. TAGStone Capital Inc. now owns 19,802 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $870,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management grew its holdings in Bank of America by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Hayek Kallen Investment Management now owns 12,022 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 16,707 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $734,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 20,620 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $906,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp grew its holdings in Bank of America by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 89,203 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,920,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 target price on Bank of America and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Cfra Research raised their target price on Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $49.55.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC traded up $1.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $47.04. 56,462,887 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 40,616,811. Bank of America Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.07 and a 1-year high of $49.31. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $45.32 and a 200-day moving average of $43.60. The stock has a market cap of $354.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.30.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.56% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The firm had revenue of ($22,273.00) million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. Bank of America's payout ratio is 30.95%.

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.