R Squared Ltd Buys Shares of 1,910 Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $84,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marino Stram & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of America by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 13,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $580,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 8,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 37,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,484,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in Bank of America by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 20,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $828,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Southland Equity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 9,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.58.

Bank of America Price Performance

Bank of America stock opened at $46.68 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $45.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $358.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.50, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $32.35 and a 52-week high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 EPS 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 business had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.30%.

Bank of America 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.