Spartan Planning & Wealth Management Makes New $671,000 Investment in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 15,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $671,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 37.2% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 559,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,257,000 after buying an additional 151,864 shares during the last quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of America during the 2nd quarter worth $234,000. Ellis Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 46.6% in the second quarter. Ellis Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 3,239 shares during the last quarter. DDFG Inc boosted its stake in Bank of America by 13.1% in the second quarter. DDFG Inc now owns 8,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.8% during the second quarter. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 11,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $57.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.50.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 8,694,538 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total transaction of $369,952,591.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 766,305,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,606,297,408.10. This trade represents a 1.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC traded up $0.91 on Tuesday, reaching $46.31. The stock had a trading volume of 20,692,103 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,909,162. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $31.27 and a twelve month high of $48.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $355.33 billion, a PE ratio of 16.84, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $45.23 and a 200 day moving average of $42.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.82%.

Bank of America Company 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.