Paladin Wealth LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Paladin Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 591 shares during the quarter. Paladin Wealth LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $634,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 152.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $70,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $46.65 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $357.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $32.35 and a 52 week high of $48.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $45.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.93. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.