AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Purchases 11,584 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 225,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,584 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $9,897,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BAC. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3,883.2% during the 4th quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 559,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 545,936 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 152.7% during the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $46.98 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $360.47 billion, a PE ratio of 14.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $45.75 and its 200 day moving average is $43.05. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $32.49 and a 1 year 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.69 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. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is 32.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.58.

About Bank of America

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.