Prudential Financial Inc. Acquires 753,880 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 13.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,251,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 753,880 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.08% of Bank of America worth $274,767,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 68.2% during the fourth quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Price Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $42.47 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.81. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $34.15 and a 52 week high of $48.08. The stock has a market cap of $322.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

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, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BAC shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.64.

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.