Salzhauer Michael Purchases 377,900 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Salzhauer Michael boosted its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 27.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,752,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 377,900 shares during the period. Bank of America makes up about 27.1% of Salzhauer Michael’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Salzhauer Michael’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $77,001,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Bank of America by 3.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,415,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $611,692,000 after buying an additional 569,385 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 3rd quarter valued at about $306,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $619,000 after acquiring an additional 645 shares during the period. Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter worth approximately $645,000. Finally, Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at approximately $488,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Stock Down 1.7 %

NYSE:BAC opened at $37.35 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.62. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $33.07 and a one year high of $48.08. The company has a market capitalization of $283.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.24. 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 (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.10. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The company had revenue of $27.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.83 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on BAC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Bank of America from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their target price on Bank of America from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Baird R W upgraded Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Cfra Research increased their target price on shares of Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.20.

Bank of America Company 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.