Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Has $39.23 Million Stock Holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. decreased its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 940,064 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,981 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $39,229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Gradient Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 696,416 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,061,000 after acquiring an additional 50,296 shares in the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 158,455 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $69,640,000 after acquiring an additional 17,880 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter valued at $998,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 17,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 150,299 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on BAC. Baird R W cut shares of Bank of America from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Cfra Research lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Bank of America from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $53.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $53.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.03.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC stock traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $48.47. 24,453,044 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 43,373,284. Bank of America Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $33.06 and a fifty-two week high of $49.31. The stock's fifty day moving average is $45.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.74. The company has a market cap of $365.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.30. 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 (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The company had revenue of ($22,273.00) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. Bank of America's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This is a positive change from Bank of America's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.41%.

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.