State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System Raises Stock Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,850,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,400 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $224,514,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tanglewood Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Castleview Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the first quarter worth $28,000. Ahrens Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the first quarter worth $31,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Bank of America during the first quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 68.06% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of BAC opened at $28.88 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $29.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $229.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $26.32 and a 12-month high of $38.60.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $25.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.98 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 19.97% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.73 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 1st will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 31st. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. This is a boost from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 27.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $32.00 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Bank of America from $41.00 to $40.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider James P. Demare sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.53, for a total transaction of $2,364,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 185,108 shares in the company, valued at $5,836,455.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Dean C. Athanasia sold 77,806 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.48, for a total transaction of $2,449,332.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 353,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,143,007.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider James P. Demare sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.53, for a total value of $2,364,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 185,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,836,455.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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. Its Consumer Banking segment offers traditional and money market savings accounts, certificates of deposit and IRAs, noninterest-and interest-bearing checking accounts, and investment accounts and products; and credit and debit cards, residential mortgages, and home equity loans, as well as direct and indirect loans, such as automotive, recreational vehicle, and consumer personal loans.