Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Buys 873,264 Shares of Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its stake in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 26.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,217,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 873,264 shares during the period. Bank of America makes up 0.8% of Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned 0.06% of Bank of America worth $199,584,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Forge First Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Bank of America during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,870,000. Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 242,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,476,000 after purchasing an additional 1,436 shares during the last quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 964,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,642,000 after buying an additional 8,355 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Wealth LLC. lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Nicholas Wealth LLC. now owns 29,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,376,000 after buying an additional 1,682 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intrepid Financial Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 1.0% in the second quarter. Intrepid Financial Planning Group LLC now owns 24,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,166,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of BAC stock opened at $52.04 on Thursday. Bank of America Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.06 and a 1-year high of $54.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market cap of $379.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.18, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $51.73 and a 200-day moving average of $48.29.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $5.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.05 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 15.70%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 30.52%.

Bank of America declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 11.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BAC shares. Phillip Securities increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Daiwa Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on Bank of America from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Citigroup upped their target price on Bank of America from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Seaport Global Securities lifted their price target on Bank of America from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Twenty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.77.

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.