Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Position Increased by Core Wealth Partners LLC

Core Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 10.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the quarter. Core Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,415,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $611,692,000 after purchasing an additional 569,385 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America during the third quarter worth $606,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 18.0% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 10,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $412,000 after buying an additional 1,583 shares in the last quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 19.2% in the third quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 7,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $282,000 after buying an additional 1,144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 48.4% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 14,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $588,000 after acquiring an additional 4,837 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of BAC opened at $43.31 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $329.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.45, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $34.15 and a one year high of $48.08. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given 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 dividend yield of 2.40%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 32.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BAC. Robert W. Baird raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. 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. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.45.

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.