Beech Hill Advisors Inc. Decreases Stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 10.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the quarter. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Vega Investment Solutions bought a new position in Bank of America during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $46.85 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $42.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Bank of America Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $33.07 and a fifty-two week high of $48.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $352.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.30.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $27.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.83 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.56% and a return on equity of 10.25%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on BAC. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Bank of America from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Argus decreased their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Bank of America from $49.50 to $43.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.40.

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.