Goldstone Financial Group LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Goldstone Financial Group LLC grew its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 21.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 18,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,271 shares during the period. Goldstone Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Channel Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 10,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $363,000. Empirical Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 47.8% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC now owns 45,096 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,982,000 after purchasing an additional 14,576 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 11,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the period. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 180,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,934,000 after buying an additional 6,357 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $46.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $31.27 and a 1 year high of $48.08. The firm has a market cap of $357.91 billion, a PE ratio of 16.96, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.34.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. Analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Bank of America from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.18.

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.