Cibc World Markets Corp Acquires 601,348 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 45.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,926,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 601,348 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $84,649,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Amundi grew its position in Bank of America by 37.1% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 37,819,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,747,658,000 after purchasing an additional 10,231,001 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 31,021.6% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 10,207,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,049,000 after acquiring an additional 10,175,100 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 81.4% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 12,776,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $561,513,000 after acquiring an additional 5,733,810 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 130.9% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,692,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $425,976,000 after acquiring an additional 5,493,817 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 193.4% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 7,608,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $301,898,000 after acquiring an additional 5,015,378 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Baird R W raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.64.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $40.97 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $45.19 and a 200-day moving average of $43.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $311.45 billion, a PE ratio of 12.72, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $34.15 and a 12 month high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 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.