Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Stake Boosted by Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 469,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,313 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $18,617,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Accent Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 43.0% during the third quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 39,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,567,000 after buying an additional 11,873 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments boosted its position in Bank of America by 237.6% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 51,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,035,000 after acquiring an additional 36,089 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP grew its stake in shares of Bank of America by 125.8% in the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 61,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,421,000 after purchasing an additional 33,983 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 173.7% during the third quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 583,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,150,000 after purchasing an additional 370,275 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 27.1% during the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 98,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,734,000 after purchasing an additional 20,916 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $47.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 23,278,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,543,285. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $42.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $366.53 billion, a PE ratio of 17.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $29.32 and a one year high of $47.98.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.25 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The business’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of America news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 1,721,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.57, for a total value of $68,114,452.62. Following the sale, the insider now owns 861,175,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,076,699,933.67. The trade was a 0.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 77,946,615 shares of company stock worth $3,152,226,690. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BAC. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Bank of America from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Bank of America from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.26.

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.