Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. Sells 634 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. reduced its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 634 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises about 0.9% of Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,949,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Swedbank AB increased its stake in Bank of America by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,042,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $279,441,000 after acquiring an additional 50,849 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,415,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $611,692,000 after purchasing an additional 569,385 shares in the last quarter. Adero Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 15.9% in the third quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 6,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 961 shares during the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,029,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,516,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BAC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. HSBC raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.64.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $41.47 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $45.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.77. The company has a market cap of $315.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $34.15 and a 12 month high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 32.30%.

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.