Grimes & Company Inc. Buys 452 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Grimes & Company Inc. increased its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 278,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 452 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $12,258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BAC. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 152.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the period. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in Bank of America by 525.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares during the period. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the third quarter worth about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $46.48 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $32.35 and a 52 week high of $48.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $356.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.43, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. HSBC upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.58.

About Bank of America

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.