Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Bought by Optas LLC

Optas LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 807 shares during the period. Optas LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $639,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter worth $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 152.7% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 525.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $46.23 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $354.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $45.83 and a 200 day moving average of $42.77. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $32.35 and a twelve month high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.70 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BAC shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. 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 research report on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.58.

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.