Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Stake in Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) by 11.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,459,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 252,180 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises 0.6% of Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $116,326,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BAC. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 45.1% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 48,112,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,007,718,000 after acquiring an additional 14,960,086 shares during the last quarter. Unisphere Establishment boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 1,642.5% in the 1st quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 4,195,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $175,057,000 after purchasing an additional 3,954,250 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 2nd quarter valued at about $164,623,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 1st quarter valued at about $152,098,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 62.9% in the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 8,904,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $421,564,000 after purchasing an additional 3,438,876 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen upped their target price on Bank of America from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 target price (up from $57.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their target price on Bank of America from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised Bank of America to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.59.

Bank of America Stock Down 2.1%

BAC opened at $52.44 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $382.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.34. Bank of America Corporation has a 12 month low of $33.06 and a 12 month high of $53.99.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $28.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.05 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 15.70%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 30.52%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $40.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.