West Branch Capital LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

West Branch Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 17.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,822 shares during the period. Bank of America accounts for approximately 0.7% of West Branch Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. West Branch Capital LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 35.9% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,014,313 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $132,479,000 after buying an additional 796,585 shares during the period. Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 1,257 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its stake in Bank of America by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 5,952,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $261,597,000 after acquiring an additional 125,317 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 151,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,674,000 after acquiring an additional 7,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Monterey Private Wealth Inc. increased its position in Bank of America by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Monterey Private Wealth Inc. now owns 33,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,484,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE BAC opened at $46.65 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $357.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.49, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $32.32 and a 1-year high of $48.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $45.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.48.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. Bank of America’s revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Phillip Securities raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.