Central Bank & Trust Co. Takes $223,000 Position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Central Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 5,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BAC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $5,226,989,000. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,876,853,000 after purchasing an additional 17,031,143 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 122,437,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,381,126,000 after purchasing an additional 11,691,451 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 37,819,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,747,658,000 after purchasing an additional 10,231,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,935,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,985,785,000 after purchasing an additional 9,980,859 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC stock opened at $45.01 on Monday. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $33.07 and a 52-week high of $48.08. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.46. The stock has a market cap of $339.01 billion, a PE ratio of 13.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.30.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.10. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The firm had revenue of $27.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.83 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BAC. Wall Street Zen cut Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. TD Cowen began coverage on Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $53.00 price objective for the company. Cfra Research raised their price objective on Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Bank of America from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Bank of America from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.50.

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.