Perpetual Ltd Purchases 104,381 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Perpetual Ltd boosted its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 180.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 162,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 104,381 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $7,129,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 152.7% in the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 525.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 3rd quarter worth $45,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.58.

Bank of America Price Performance

BAC stock opened at $46.65 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.48. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $32.32 and a 12-month high of $48.08. The firm has a market cap of $357.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.49, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.33.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

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.