Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Purchases 16,055 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 32.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,055 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Accent Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 43.0% in the third quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 39,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,567,000 after acquiring an additional 11,873 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 237.6% in the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 51,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,035,000 after acquiring an additional 36,089 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 140,255,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,546,871,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700,141 shares in the last quarter. Clarendon Private LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $798,000. Finally, Baker Avenue Asset Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 125.8% in the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 61,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,421,000 after acquiring an additional 33,983 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Trading Up 4.7 %

NYSE BAC opened at $46.19 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.59. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $34.03 and a twelve month high of $48.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $354.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.34, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 32.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.58.

Bank of America 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.