Ballast Inc. Sells 3,314 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Ballast Inc. cut its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 40,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,314 shares during the quarter. Ballast Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,791,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 152.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 510 shares during the period. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in Bank of America by 525.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares during the period. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter valued at about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on BAC shares. Evercore ISI decreased their price target 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. HSBC raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.58.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of BAC stock opened at $46.54 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $357.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $31.40 and a twelve month high of $48.08. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.42.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.