Clearbridge Investments LLC Boosts Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,875,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,274,958 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 0.22% of Bank of America worth $741,668,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Collier Financial purchased a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 3,883.2% during the 4th quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 559,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 545,936 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on BAC. UBS Group upgraded shares of 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 report on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.45.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $41.24 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $34.15 and a 12-month high of $48.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $313.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $44.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.89.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

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.