Prudential Financial Inc. Acquires 753,880 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 13.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,251,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 753,880 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $274,767,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA now owns 20,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $879,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. Avalon Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 1,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Bank of America by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 8,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Marino Stram & Associates LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 13,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Finally, Keudell Morrison Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 8,291 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of Bank of America stock opened at $42.47 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Bank of America Co. has a fifty-two week low of $34.15 and a fifty-two week high of $48.08. The company has a market cap of $322.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last released its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.12 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. Bank of America’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. As a group, equities 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. 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. UBS Group upgraded Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Bank of America from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.64.

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.