Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Stock Holdings Increased by First Financial Bankshares Inc

First Financial Bankshares Inc lifted its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 20.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,450,183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 245,166 shares during the quarter. Bank of America accounts for 1.4% of First Financial Bankshares Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. First Financial Bankshares Inc’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $63,736,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Amundi raised its position in Bank of America by 37.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 37,819,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,747,658,000 after acquiring an additional 10,231,001 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in Bank of America by 31,021.6% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 10,207,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,049,000 after acquiring an additional 10,175,100 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its position in Bank of America by 81.4% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 12,776,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $561,513,000 after acquiring an additional 5,733,810 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in Bank of America by 130.9% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,692,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $425,976,000 after acquiring an additional 5,493,817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in Bank of America by 193.4% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 7,608,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $301,898,000 after acquiring an additional 5,015,378 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Baird R W raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.64.

Bank of America Stock Up 0.4 %

BAC opened at $41.61 on Wednesday. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $34.15 and a fifty-two week 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $45.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.78. The company has a market capitalization of $316.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32.

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 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 firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

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.