Wealth Alliance Acquires 1,604 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Wealth Alliance raised its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 8.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,973 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,604 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Bank of America by 108,111.3% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 193,168,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,397,725,000 after buying an additional 192,989,515 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth about $3,436,543,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 20,362,295 shares during the period. Snider Financial Group lifted its position in Bank of America by 9,477.3% during the 1st quarter. Snider Financial Group now owns 14,448,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,956,000 after acquiring an additional 14,297,496 shares during the period. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in Bank of America by 1,071.8% during the 4th quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 14,082,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $474,150,000 after acquiring an additional 12,880,492 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC opened at $35.22 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $277.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.19, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50 day moving average is $35.55 and its 200 day moving average is $32.21. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-month high of $38.35.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $25.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.49 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BAC shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Bank of America from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.23.

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.