First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Increases Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 17.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 139,930 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 20,907 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $4,711,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc grew its holdings in Bank of America by 98.1% in the third quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 1,018 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. ZRC Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 192.3% in the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,140 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the period. Finally, Private Ocean LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Private Ocean LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. HSBC restated a "hold" rating and set a $39.00 price objective (up previously from $38.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $40.00 price objective (up previously from $39.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $38.70.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $36.95. The stock had a trading volume of 32,182,780 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,025,328. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $36.26 and a 200-day moving average of $32.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $291.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.39. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-month high of $38.49.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. Bank of America's payout ratio is 33.22%.

Bank of America Company 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.

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