Stolper Co Increases Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Stolper Co increased its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 142,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,299 shares during the period. Bank of America accounts for about 2.1% of Stolper Co’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Stolper Co’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $4,710,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BAC. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 60.0% in the 3rd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 103,645,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,130,177,000 after purchasing an additional 38,870,780 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1,356.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,390,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $615,788,000 after purchasing an additional 18,990,473 shares during the last quarter. Snider Financial Group lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 9,477.3% in the 1st quarter. Snider Financial Group now owns 14,448,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,956,000 after purchasing an additional 14,297,496 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3,474.6% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 11,658,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $480,579,000 after purchasing an additional 11,332,721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 1st quarter valued at about $395,481,000. 68.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of America Price Performance

Bank of America stock traded down $1.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $27.82. The company had a trading volume of 130,665,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 51,705,035. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.07. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $27.62 and a 1 year high of $44.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $222.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.40.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $24.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.17 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 11.41% and a net margin of 23.93%. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.82 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 2nd. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BAC. Citigroup boosted their target price on Bank of America from $36.00 to $38.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 17th. Atlantic Securities downgraded Bank of America from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 31st. Barclays reduced their price objective on Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Bank of America in a research note on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.16.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider Matthew M. Koder sold 105,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.27, for a total value of $3,600,200.58. Following the sale, the insider now owns 319,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,959,648.81. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Bank of America news, insider Matthew M. Koder sold 105,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.27, for a total value of $3,600,200.58. Following the sale, the insider now owns 319,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,959,648.81. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Matthew M. Koder sold 214,745 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.91, for a total value of $7,711,492.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 214,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,711,564.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Bank of America

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Bank of America Corp. is a bank and financial holding company, which engages in the provision of banking and nonbank financial services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth and Investment Management, Global Banking, Global Markets, and All Other. The Consumer Banking segment offers credit, banking, and investment products and services to consumers and small businesses.