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

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 32.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 66,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,055 shares during the quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 40,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,796,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Maia Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 17,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $805,000 after purchasing an additional 1,559 shares during the last quarter. Hickory Point Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $904,000. Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $538,000. Finally, PCG Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $663,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC opened at $46.19 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $34.03 and a twelve month high of $48.08. The firm has a market cap of $354.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50 day moving average of $45.78 and a 200 day moving average of $43.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on BAC. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.