Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Stake Raised by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,174,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 249,654 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $106,896,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Bank of America by 8.2% in the third quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 55,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,515,000 after buying an additional 4,187 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank grew its position in Bank of America by 354.5% in the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 119,713 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,278,000 after buying an additional 93,375 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Bank of America by 3.7% in the third quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 65,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,793,000 after buying an additional 2,332 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Bank of America by 228.3% in the fourth quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 67,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,273,000 after buying an additional 46,950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new position in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $673,000. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Bank of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. 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 research report on Thursday, March 28th. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $39.00 price objective (up from $38.00) on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.29.

Bank of America Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of BAC stock traded down $1.26 on Tuesday, hitting $34.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 93,692,977 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,161,027. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $24.96 and a fifty-two week high of $38.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $35.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $273.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.39.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. Bank of America had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was down 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is 31.27%.

Bank of America 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.