Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Purchases 11,691,451 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 10.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 122,437,422 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 11,691,451 shares during the period. Bank of America accounts for about 0.6% of Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD's portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 1.60% of Bank of America worth $5,381,126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 142,289,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,243,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033,229 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth about $5,226,989,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Bank of America by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 88,210,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,876,853,000 after buying an additional 17,031,143 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Bank of America by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 59,613,837 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,620,028,000 after acquiring an additional 2,806,927 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 46,887,442 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,060,703,000 after acquiring an additional 1,671,610 shares during the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Phillip Securities raised Bank of America from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Bank of America from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird raised Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.43.

Bank of America Trading Up 2.2 %

Bank of America stock traded up $0.84 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $39.59. 42,434,634 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 39,151,653. The firm has a market capitalization of $300.99 billion, a PE ratio of 12.30, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $40.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.55. Bank of America Co. has a twelve month low of $33.07 and a twelve month high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $27.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.83 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. Research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.95%.

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.