Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Bought by Certuity LLC

Certuity LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 500,718 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,362 shares during the period. Bank of America comprises about 2.4% of Certuity LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Certuity LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $22,007,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 10,175,100 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 81.4% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 12,776,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $561,513,000 after purchasing an additional 5,733,810 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Bank of America by 130.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,692,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $425,976,000 after buying an additional 5,493,817 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 193.4% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 7,608,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,898,000 after buying an additional 5,015,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3,550.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,547,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,804,560,000 after acquiring an additional 4,423,215 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $46.80 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $45.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $359.08 billion, a PE ratio of 14.53, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.33. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $32.35 and a 52 week high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BAC shares. Citigroup upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.58.

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.