Johnson Financial Group Inc. Sells 28,994 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Johnson Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 73.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 28,994 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $491,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Collier Financial bought a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 3,883.2% in the fourth quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 559,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 545,936 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc grew its stake in Bank of America by 53.0% in the 4th quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Baird R W upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Bank of America from $49.50 to $43.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Cfra Research boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.43.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC stock opened at $39.67 on Friday. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $40.48 and a 200 day moving average of $43.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $301.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.32, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.24. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $33.07 and a 52 week high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.10. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The firm had revenue of $27.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.83 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.95%.

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.