Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Buys 11,704 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 241,735 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 11,704 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Bank of America were worth $10,624,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amundi increased its stake in Bank of America by 37.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 37,819,980 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,747,658,000 after purchasing an additional 10,231,001 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in Bank of America by 31,021.6% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 10,207,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $405,049,000 after purchasing an additional 10,175,100 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its stake in Bank of America by 81.4% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 12,776,184 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $561,513,000 after purchasing an additional 5,733,810 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Bank of America by 130.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,692,279 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $425,976,000 after purchasing an additional 5,493,817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in Bank of America by 193.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 7,608,305 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $301,898,000 after purchasing an additional 5,015,378 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. HSBC raised shares of Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $48.64.

Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE BAC traded down $0.21 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.62. 50,561,860 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 36,019,015. The stock has a market capitalization of $301.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.30, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $34.15 and a 12-month high of $48.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The business has a 50 day moving average of $45.44 and a 200-day moving average of $43.76.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. The firm had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $25.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

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.