Ruffer LLP Boosts Stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Ruffer LLP grew its holdings in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,727,336 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 98,420 shares during the quarter. Bank of America accounts for about 4.3% of Ruffer LLP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Ruffer LLP's holdings in Bank of America were worth $119,869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 152.7% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of America during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1,306.5% during the fourth quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 1,083 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 1,006 shares in the last quarter. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Bank of America from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group upgraded Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday. 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $48.64.

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Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $39.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 50,561,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,015,205. Bank of America Co. has a 1-year low of $34.15 and a 1-year high of $48.08. The stock has a market cap of $301.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.30, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $25.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $25.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. The business'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 company 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 dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. Bank of America's payout ratio is currently 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.