Cibc World Markets Corp Buys 601,348 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 45.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,926,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 601,348 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $84,649,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Collier Financial bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 68.2% during the 4th quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. 70.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on BAC. HSBC raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Baird R W raised shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.64.

Bank of America Stock Performance

BAC opened at $40.97 on Monday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $45.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.76. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $34.15 and a 1-year high of $48.08. The company has a market cap of $311.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.72, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

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.