Ascent Capital Management LLC Makes New $214,000 Investment in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Ascent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,858 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BAC. Swedbank AB increased its position in Bank of America by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,042,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $279,441,000 after purchasing an additional 50,849 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,415,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $611,692,000 after buying an additional 569,385 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 249,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,909,000 after buying an additional 23,617 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America by 3.2% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 5,393,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $214,016,000 after buying an additional 165,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LJI Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Bank of America by 1.1% during the third quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,235 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,192,000 after acquiring an additional 593 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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. 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. Barclays raised their target price on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.64.

Bank of America Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of BAC opened at $40.97 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $34.15 and a 52 week high of $48.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $311.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. 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 company earned $0.70 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. Bank of America’s dividend 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.