Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Purchased by Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. raised its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 55.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,346 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $902,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 3.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,415,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $611,692,000 after purchasing an additional 569,385 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the third quarter worth $606,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 18.0% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 10,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $412,000 after buying an additional 1,583 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 48.4% in the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 14,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $588,000 after buying an additional 4,837 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter worth about $73,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on BAC shares. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Baird R W raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group raised Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.45.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $42.81 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $325.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a 50-day moving average of $44.63 and a 200 day moving average of $43.86. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $34.15 and a 12 month high of $48.08.

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

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

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.