Washington Trust Bank Boosts Holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Washington Trust Bank lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 54,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 677 shares during the quarter. Washington Trust Bank’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 37.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 37,819,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,747,658,000 after acquiring an additional 10,231,001 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in Bank of America by 31,021.6% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 10,207,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $405,049,000 after purchasing an additional 10,175,100 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Bank of America by 81.4% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 12,776,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $561,513,000 after purchasing an additional 5,733,810 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted 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 buying an additional 5,493,817 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 193.4% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 5,015,378 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $42.47 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $34.15 and a twelve month high of $48.08. The company has a market cap of $322.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s 50 day moving average is $44.81 and its 200 day moving average is $43.77.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS 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. 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 dividend yield of 2.45%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BAC. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Baird R W raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. HSBC raised Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.64.

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.