Capital World Investors Raises Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Capital World Investors boosted its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 23.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,031,143 shares during the quarter. Capital World Investors owned 1.15% of Bank of America worth $3,876,853,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 3,883.2% in the 4th quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 559,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 545,936 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 53.0% during the 4th quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:BAC opened at $37.44 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $33.07 and a 12 month high of $48.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $41.27 and its 200 day moving average is $43.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $284.65 billion, a PE ratio of 11.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.24.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.10. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The firm had revenue of $27.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.83 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BAC shares. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.20.

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.