Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 5.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 132,281 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,980 shares during the period. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $5,520,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 142,289,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,243,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033,229 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Bank of America by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 122,437,422 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,381,126,000 after purchasing an additional 11,691,451 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,226,989,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Bank of America by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,876,853,000 after purchasing an additional 17,031,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Bank of America by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,985,785,000 after purchasing an additional 9,980,859 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC stock traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $47.00. 22,514,875 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 40,338,466. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $44.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.79. Bank of America Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.07 and a 52 week high of $49.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $353.96 billion, a PE ratio of 13.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.30.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $27.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.83 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. 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%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on BAC. Citigroup lifted their price target on Bank of America from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Bank of America from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Bank of America from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Cfra Research boosted 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Bank of America from $49.50 to $43.50 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $48.59.

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.