Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. Buys 9,065 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 62.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,065 shares during the period. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rossmore Private Capital increased its position in Bank of America by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 26,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $894,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 109,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,154,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the period. Kennedy Investment Group increased its position in Bank of America by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 58,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the period. Finally, Private Ocean LLC increased its position in 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 valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $40.90. 17,100,666 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,032,784. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $24.96 and a 1 year high of $41.20. The company has a market capitalization of $319.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $39.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $25.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The company’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 33.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on BAC shares. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $39.00 target price (up from $38.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.02.

Bank of America Company 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.