Atala Financial Inc Makes New Investment in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 6,778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $298,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,940,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $173,168,000 after purchasing an additional 173,021 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at $60,679,000. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 2,028,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,150,000 after buying an additional 10,377 shares during the last quarter. 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 worth $1,567,000 after acquiring an additional 11,873 shares during the period. Finally, Keybank National Association OH increased its position in Bank of America by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 3,458,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $152,006,000 after acquiring an additional 38,258 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of BAC stock opened at $39.64 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.70. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $34.15 and a 52 week high of $48.08. The stock has a market cap of $301.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.31, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict 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 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. HSBC upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.64.

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.