Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Shares Acquired by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,615,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 248,538 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Bank of America were worth $114,938,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,940,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $173,168,000 after buying an additional 173,021 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $60,679,000. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 2,028,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,150,000 after buying an additional 10,377 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH boosted its stake in Bank of America by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 3,458,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $152,006,000 after purchasing an additional 38,258 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of America by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 42,929,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,886,769,000 after purchasing an additional 297,858 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $42.24 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $321.10 billion, a PE ratio of 13.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a 52-week low of $34.15 and a 52-week high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.