National Pension Service Acquires 235,773 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 11,445,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 235,773 shares during the quarter. Bank of America comprises about 0.5% of National Pension Service’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. National Pension Service’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $385,381,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 2.1% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,648,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,852,222,000 after buying an additional 1,397,469 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Bank of America by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 41,833,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,408,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315,056 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Bank of America by 97.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,290,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,130,538,000 after purchasing an additional 20,362,295 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 37,649,708 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,267,666,000 after purchasing an additional 5,484,219 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 22,538,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $758,871,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250,096 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC stock traded up $0.23 on Thursday, hitting $37.94. 9,751,883 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 40,159,578. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $38.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $296.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.31.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.06. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.94%. The firm had revenue of $25.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on BAC shares. Odeon Capital Group lowered Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.90 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Wolfe Research raised Bank of America from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $39.50 to $40.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Bank of America from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.70.

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.