Royal Fund Management LLC Raises Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Royal Fund Management LLC grew its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 655 shares during the quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $307,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 98.1% during the 3rd quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 1,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 192.3% during the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Ocean LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 34.0% during the 4th quarter. Private Ocean LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC traded up $0.37 during trading on Friday, hitting $37.25. The stock had a trading volume of 34,082,662 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,339,492. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-month high of $38.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $291.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on Bank of America from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Bank of America from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Bank of America from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Bank of America from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $39.00 target price (up from $38.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.70.

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.