Laidlaw Wealth Management LLC Invests $204,000 in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Laidlaw Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 4,631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3,883.2% during the 4th quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 559,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 545,936 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 152.7% during the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 510 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $46.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $356.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.23. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $33.17 and a 12-month high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. Research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on BAC. UBS Group raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective 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. 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. 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. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.