Van ECK Associates Corp Purchases 78,408 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,315,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 78,408 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.07% of Bank of America worth $178,960,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 97.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,290,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,130,538,000 after acquiring an additional 20,362,295 shares during the period. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Bank of America by 1,071.8% in the 4th quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 14,082,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $474,150,000 after purchasing an additional 12,880,492 shares during the period. Darsana Capital Partners LP purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 3rd quarter valued at about $177,970,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 143.5% during the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 10,659,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $291,852,000 after buying an additional 6,281,690 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter worth about $168,610,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE BAC traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $37.54. The stock had a trading volume of 6,825,159 shares, compared to its average volume of 40,843,250. The firm has a market cap of $296.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.39. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $24.96 and a 1 year high of $38.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $36.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.88.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The company had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. Bank of America’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 33.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BAC. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Bank of America from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Bank of America from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Bank of America from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.59.

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.