Wernau Asset Management Inc. Invests $4.33 Million in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Wernau Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 98,517 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,330,000. Bank of America comprises approximately 3.2% of Wernau Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Accent Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 43.0% during the third quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 39,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,567,000 after purchasing an additional 11,873 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments boosted its position in Bank of America by 237.6% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 51,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,035,000 after buying an additional 36,089 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Bank of America by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 140,255,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,546,871,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700,141 shares in the last quarter. Clarendon Private LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth approximately $798,000. Finally, Baker Avenue Asset Management LP raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 125.8% during the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 61,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,421,000 after acquiring an additional 33,983 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BAC. UBS Group raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Hsbc Global Res raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. 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 report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target 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 issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.58.

Bank of America Trading Up 4.7 %

Bank of America stock opened at $46.19 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $354.37 billion, a PE ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $45.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.63. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $34.03 and a one year high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. Bank of America’s revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

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.