Great Lakes Advisors LLC Acquires 57,184 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,739,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 57,184 shares during the period. Bank of America accounts for approximately 1.4% of Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $164,371,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 152.7% in 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. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $39.62 on Wednesday. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $34.15 and a 12-month high of $48.08. The company has a market capitalization of $301.29 billion, a PE ratio of 12.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $45.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.76.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. The business 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%. The company’s revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.64.

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.