First City Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

First City Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 61,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 389 shares during the quarter. Bank of America makes up approximately 1.4% of First City Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. First City Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,689,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Accent Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 43.0% during the third quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 39,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,567,000 after buying an additional 11,873 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments increased its position in Bank of America by 237.6% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 51,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,035,000 after purchasing an additional 36,089 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 140,255,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,546,871,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700,141 shares in the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 125.8% in the 3rd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 61,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,421,000 after purchasing an additional 33,983 shares during the period. Finally, Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 3rd quarter valued at about $550,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $44.54. 11,897,870 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,438,672. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $45.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.94. The company has a market capitalization of $341.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.20, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.82.

Insider Activity

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 4,076,169 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.05, for a total transaction of $163,250,568.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 784,549,933 shares in the company, valued at $31,421,224,816.65. This trade represents a 0.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,772,932 shares of company stock valued at $693,852,472. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.