Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Has $3.25 Million Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 45.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 74,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,261 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $3,253,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 68.2% during the 4th quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC opened at $41.87 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $318.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.00, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $34.15 and a 1-year high of $48.08. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.96. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 32.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on BAC. Barclays upped their price target 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 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. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.31.

About Bank of America

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.