Sarasin & Partners LLP Makes New $1.32 Million Investment in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 30,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,318,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in Bank of America in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in 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 valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 525.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 1,014 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 852 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of America Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:BAC traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $46.54. 44,307,437 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 26,125,426. The company has a market cap of $357.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.33. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $45.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $31.40 and a one year high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 10.09%. The company had revenue of $25.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.24 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BAC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Bank of America from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. UBS Group upgraded Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $48.58.

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.